Craftivists United commemorates journalists with press blanket project.
By: Sarah Struthers
After hearing that people were being reprimanded at work for wearing Palestinian flag pins in October 2023, Sarah Story made clay watermelon pins to hand out at pro-Palestinian protests.
The pins became a conversation piece and a recognized symbol of pro-Palestinian solidarity in Winnipeg.
People at the rallies wanted to know how Story made the pins and suggested she host a crafting workshop.
Two years later, Craftivists United, a collective of politically engaged creatives committed to a free Palestine, has over 1,700 followers on Instagram.
“It was an accident and an experiment,” said Story, 46, one of the three founders of Craftivists United.
Story, a self-described “direct-action activist” had to learn craftivism, a slow and gentle combination of craft and activism, as she went.
“It allows you to sit and be thoughtful and process things,” said Story.
Fifteen people showed up to the first gathering to make “Poppies for Palestine”. At the next meeting, 40 people showed up with food, tea, and crafting supplies.
“We’re like, oh, maybe there’s something here,” said Story. “The rallies have their purpose, but we were getting to know each other’s stories.”
The group’s current project is a commemorative press blanket, honouring the 320 journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Using resources like Al Jazeera and stopmurderingjournalists.com, the organizers track the names with a spreadsheet, editing the list as the numbers grow.
Contributors are assigned the name of a journalist and tasked with creating an 8-inch by 8-inch piece using the medium of their choice, including painting, beadwork, and tatreez, a traditional Palestinian form of embroidery.
Pascale Bouchard embroiders red ribbon and felt poppies onto a blue blanket square commemorating journalist, Alaa Suleiman Hamad Abu Muammar.
She saw a post about the press blanket on Instagram and wanted to be part of something collaborative.
“I thought it’d be a good way to take time to really reflect on a project with a purpose,” said Bouchard, 25.
Their square features two miniature black and white keffiyehs (a traditional Arab scarf, synonymous with Palestinians), and a little blue press uniform. She embroidered Muammar’s full name in English and Arabic with black thread, lined by a border of red, white, and green watermelons.
“The whole project basically is a reminder that you’re not alone, but also that these people were not just numbers,” said Bouchard.
I feel like craft and art is a way in. It’s a way for people to learn. It’s a first step toward becoming aware and then becoming active,” said Story. “Everybody can craft.”
The finished squares are brought to one Craftivist United’s four drop-off locations.
“You never know what’s going to show up at the door or in the mail,” said Story. “Everybody is just so thoughtful.”
There are 268 Manitoban crafters who have registered to make a square, including some craftivists from Nova Scotia. The oldest contributor is 99 and a half years old.
The finished pieces will be sewn together by organizers into blanket panels that are five squares wide and eight squares tall. Craftivists United plans to exhibit the press blanket throughout Manitoba.
