Making Change: The Art And Craft Of Activism
June 3, —
September 9, 2018
How do we make change in our world? What tools can we use to make a difference? How can one person raise awareness of social injustice or motivate action that makes the world a better place? These are the questions that guide artists, designers, and crafters across the nation; they create answers with their hands. They harness the power of creativity to address contemporary issues, and they make things in order to make a difference.
MODA’s 2018 exhibition Making Change: The Art and Craft of Activism explored this concept and focused on the power of Craftivism: a worldwide movement operating at the intersection of craft and activism. Across the globe, artists and crafters armed with traditional materials like yarn, glue guns, quilt patterns, sewing needles, X-ACTO knives, and other tools are using their hands to protest social and political inequalities and injustices.
The time spent on these works shows the dedication to creating pieces that evoke emotion and promote discussion. By sharing ideas expressed through the work of their hands, these artists and crafters aim to make you think, explore and take note.
Visitors got involved and made change by . . .
Making Welcome Blankets
Los Angeles-based designer and artist Jayna Zweiman developed Welcome Blanket to inspire creative and critical responses to current issues around immigration, cultural displacement, and geographic relocation.
To participate in this project, individuals knit, quilted, crocheted, or sewed 40 x 40inch blankets and packaged them with their own stories of immigration, migration, or relocation, as well as words of welcome for our new neighbors. They sent the blankets to MODA, where they were sorted, catalogued, and exhibited.
At the end of Making Change, the blankets were distributed to immigrants and refugees along with the notes of welcome written by their makers.
Participating in Badass HERStory
&
Shannon Downey, known across the internet as Badass Cross Stitch, is an artist, craftivist, community organizer, and general instigator. She recently launched Badass HERstory, a global craftivism project meant to capture and share the stories of women, female-identified, and gender non-binary humans through fiber art. Her aim is to empower individuals, build community, and reshape narrative.
MODA visitors were invited to participate in this crowd-sourced project by stitching their story on a 12 x 12" piece of fabric and adding it to the other stories created by Atlanta craftivists.
Exhibition Participants Included:
Alex Briseno
Alice Drueding
Alireza Mostafazadeh
Andrew Lewis
Armando Milani
Ashley Lukashevsky
Ashton Taylor
Brooke Fischer
Bulent Erkmen
Cedomir Kostovic
Celeste Byers
Chanelle Librada Reyes
Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Chip Thomas
Chris Serrano
Chun-ilang Leo Lin
Civilization
Coco Cerrella
Copper Greene
Dalida Karić - Hadžiahmetović
Daniel Jasper
David Tartakover
Donal Thornton
Duqudus
Ernesto Yerena
Fang Chen
Gina Kiel
Gregg Deal
Guerrilla Girls
Götz Gramlic
HAWRAF
Herman Ibanez
Icy and Sot
Jackie Red Fawn
Jess X Snow
Joe Scorsone
John Creson
John Yates
Jon Key
Josh MacPhee
Kate Deciccio
Koy Suntichotinun-Act
Lex Drewinski
Margarita Sada
Mario Fuentes
Marty Neumeier
Mata Ruda
Michael Mabry
Mirko Ilić
Mohammad Sharaf
Molly Crabapple
Monica Schlaug
Munk One
Natalia Delgado Avila
Nenad Cizi
Nicholas Blechman
Paula Scher
Ramzi Moutran
Rena Chrysikopoulous
Robbie Conal
Robert Montgomery
Rommy Torrico
Sean Adams
Shepard Fairey
Shi-Zhe Yung
Stanley Eisenman
Studio Number One
Tan Kien Eng
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
Teresa Tsang Teng
Toni Tomasek
Trudy Cole-Zielanski
United Unknown
Wesam Mazhar Haddad
Will Brown
Wishmini Perera
Woody Pirtle