As part of the closing weekend of Crafting a Continuum: Rethinking Contemporary Craft, HCCC is pleased to invite you to a lecture by Betsy Greer, author of Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism.
About the Lecture
Some days it’s hard to know how to save the world. With all the disease and destruction hitting the headlines, it is also easy to feel that what you are doing is never enough. By sharing examples from around the world of how people have made the world a better place, Betsy Greer aims to not just give you hope, but also to give you no excuse. From a WWII soldier who knitted a blanket with pot handles and thread from socks, to a project in India that gives women a voice and more, Greer hopes to share examples that can help anyone see how their craft skills can be an immediate force of good, not just a form of entertainment.
About the Book
It all started in 2000, with a quest to learn to knit as a way to connect with older people. At the time, knitting was the only thing Betsy Greer could think of that “old people” did. This quest is what led Greer down the rabbit hole. Suddenly, no anecdote, fragment of fabric, or person quietly knitting was safe from being researched, touched, or questioned. It has been this way ever since. She started the craftivism movement in 2003 because it gave her a reason to talk to strangers about their craft histories. She published her first book, Knitting for Good!, in 2008. In 2014, Greer published Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activsm, an anthology comprised of 33 contributing authors. Having the chance to talk to people about their interest in craft and its role in helping others, is her greatest joy and most nerdy interest.
