Today is ANZAC Day.
As part of an exhibition curated by Cat Badcock (distant relation!), titled 'Crafty', showcasing the work of artists using craft techniques to social commentary and activism:
Brief Project Background:
"With the rise of revolutionary knitting circles, stitch ‘n’ bitch craft groups and
renegade craft fairs, there has been a significant rethink of craft as domestic
imprisonment. Craft is now synonymous with sustainability, a stance against
mass culture and consumerism.
Craftivism is formed on the belief that ‘each time you participate in craft you
are making a difference...whether it’s fighting against useless materialism or
making items for charity’.
Craft collectives hope to increase participation in craft activism by offering a
different approach from the often intense, and sometimes hostile, modes of
activism most commonly associated with social justice movements.
One of the main values that these groups pioneer is the fact that activism
doesn’t have to mean taking to the streets in loud and hostile actions, it could
be as simple as placing a craft object in an unusual space or simply the act of
crafting."
-Catherine Badcock, 2009
The piece I am contributing to this exhibition is based on a trip I made to Bosnia i Herzegovina in 2005, where I found myself confronted with the physical scars of warfare (people walking through the streets with missing limbs and visible scars), as well as the more overpowering emotional and psychological scars from the traumas of conflict.
This is a photo I took in Mostar, not far from the Croatian border, showing one of the many hand written signs with the legend "DONT FORGET"...
I've been doing some visual research today as I complete this tea cosy, 'Teacosy* Number (Untold number of deaths?); Journey through the debris of conflict Cosy', 2009.
This Youtube video I found has left me speechless with incredulity...it potentially explains why conflict in the Balkans is so prevalent and volatile... You can see more films of death, destruction and mass graves in Bosnia and Serbia on Youtube.
I know it doesn't make for comforting and genteel tea time conversation, however, as part of my commitment to encompass as many aspects as possible from society and the greater human experience, The Teacosy* Revolution does not shy away from gruesome topics, especially when I personally need to process some acquired trauma from one of the most geographically beautiful and historically strategic countries on earth.
'Teacosy* Number (Untold number of deaths?); Journey through the debris of conflict Cosy', 2009
With this tea cosy artwork, I am not taking sides, only depicting aspects of what actually exists in Bosnia i Herzegovina and the ongoing ethnic unease which is seemingly ever present- with three such dynamic cultures sharing the same borders, there are bound to be disputes unless there is the desire to collectively look outside those borders at the bigger picture, I believe.
'Teacosy* Number (Untold number of deaths?); Journey through the debris of conflict Cosy', 2009
I don't claim to have any solutions, nor do I know enough about the region and it's intricate cultural mix...which is why I continue to research and investigate...knowledge is a good way, I have found, to overcome, accept and work with the traumas I have experienced, and more importantly to find physical and creative ways of expressing the trauma. I am really surprised that its taken me nearly 4 years to come around to this experience, to revisit it and work through and with it...and I can confidently say that I want to go back to Bosnia and spend more time observing and experiencing the amazingly intense culture that exists there.
'Teacosy* Number (Untold number of deaths?); Journey through the debris of conflict Cosy', 2009
I wish I did have some answers and some practical solutions to avoid future atrocities in the world...I definitely think though, that ignorance is one of the most destructive qualities on the planet, and that we all have a responsibility to learn, teach, love and share with each other everything we know.
There are always positives, we just have to look for them.
