Willful knitting? Contemporary Australian craftivism and feminist histories

Abstract

In this article, I connect two contemporary Australian examples of craftivism, Casey Jenkins’s performance art piece ‘Casting Off My Womb’ and the Knitting Nannas Against Gas in Lismore, NSW, to explore histories of feminism, performance art and activism. I argue that these public acts of knitting are disruptive, they challenge expectations and disturb order. I highlight some of the complexities in feminism’s relationship with domesticity, noting tensions, but also the ways meanings shift and change. The potential scope of craftivism is rich, with protests spanning from the body and reproductive rights to preventing environmental degradation. In exploring these examples of craftivism, I argue that linking contemporary craftivist practices to histories of feminist activism can highlight the persistence of feminist disturbance across time.

Notes

1. For example see Lawrence’s (2013) discussion of the weaving of tapestries in South Australia to commemorate feminist achievements in the state.

2. A comparison could also be made to the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common in the UK which ran from 1981 to 2000. For a discussion of the links between the activism at Greenham Common and craftivist histories, see Robertson (2011).

3. Of course, this cannot be the case for all members of KNAG. In the same video, Jenny Leunig mentions her attendance at the Aquarius Festival in Nimbin in 1973, a festival which has been associated with alternative lifestyles, sustainability and ‘hippies’.

4. For further recognition of the potential essentialism in a focus on ‘femininity’ in protests, see Robertson (2011).