Gentle Craftivism Workshop at the Lily Montagu Reading Room
The Lily Montagu Reading Room hosted a Gentle Craftivism Workshop, bringing together crafters and activists from six progressive communities to explore principles and practices to do things differently.
Many concepts in Judaism, from the words of the prophets to tikkun olam, the mystical concept of repairing the world, inspire us to take action to build a just and compassionate society. As we work to solve local and global problems, we often find burnout and anxiety. Our extraordinary workshop leader, Sarah P Corbett, introduced us to her “gentle protest” approach to using handicrafts as a tool for craftivism (craft + activism), which mitigates the risk of polarisation and can create real and positive change. A dynamic and engaging teacher, Sarah is an award winning author, activist and founder of the Craftivist Collective, working across the charity and cultural sectors. She shared fascinating examples of how being gentle with ourselves, our planet, and holders of power, can change hearts, minds, policies and laws.
Participants began a profound embroidery project, exploring their hopes and vision for change, creating a dream cloud to act as both anchor and lodestar in their personal practices. Participants engaged deeply and sincerely with this project, with the group and the reading room itself creating a safe and supportive space to do this work. Sarah introduced the group to practices to make the practical work of sewing mindful and meaningful, and it was liberating for novice and experienced sewers to concentrate on the message not the accuracy of their stitches.
The workshop was a wonderful example of how the LBC library is a source of inspiration and information not just for text study but for art and activism, and every aspect of Jewish life. It brought together rabbis, congregants, crafters and changemakers, enriching the library’s community of readers. We learnt that to tackle concrete problems we must be strategic and we can be gentle. Participants described the workshop as inspiring, nourishing and thought provoking and many are already planning how they will take their learning from the LBC Library back into their communities. The workshop was supported by Women of Reform Judaism, and we are grateful to our sisters across the pond for sharing our vision of invigorating and transformative learning at the LBC Library.
