Paper short abstract:

Overlapping craftivism and art activism, Protest textiles are a term I am coining in my practice-based research which refers to textiles that are used in protests. They can harness power in objecthood, performative elements and subversiveness to tackle social injustices and the climate crisis.

Paper long abstract:

Overlapping craftivism and art activism, Protest textiles are a term that I am coining within my practice-based research that refers to textiles that are used as protest or within protests. Protests with textiles are becoming more prevalent, as can be seen by the Pussy Hats at the Women’s March protest at the inauguration of Trump. They overlap craftivism and art activism and can be viewed as either a sperate entity or a genre within both disciplines. Consigning them under the umbrella of only craftivism does them a disservice because craftivism as a whole is not protest, likewise having them be merely a section of art activism dilutes their voice, history and purpose. I am suggesting that the term protest textiles be used to describe this burgeoning field. Art activism favours participatory collaborative art practices that are not encumbered with art objects. Textiles by their nature and tactility are object oriented, which should then be antithetical to art activism, but it is the history of the art object that is at fault.

There is power in objecthood. Textiles can fulfill this objecthood without significant baggage that fine art materials are susceptible to. The performative element to the crafting of textiles can be utilized as an act of protest. The most powerful element textiles can bring to art activism is their subversive nature when used in protest. This text will aim to describe the importance of textiles within protest; to shape a history within protest textiles; and to provide examples of this.