Koppelteken

Visit Elnaz at Space101 with her project Carpet Codes.

Craftivism (craft+activism) is a growing worldwide movement where artists, activists and the general public use their crafting skills for political purposes. Going to a protest or calling your local politician is no longer the only way to raise your voice particularly in Iran. I used Craftivism as a practical method which enables women to voice their issues and create spaces in which they can share their thoughts and ideas and protest softly and discreetly.

After some first-hand experience of the censorship and repression, I decided to use the steganographic practice. I created a platform for women to share their stories since most Iranian women have access to carpets. I chose the carpet as a covert system to camouflage women’s sensitive stories. Carpets bring high value to the process of my project as they are transformed into a bank of data. Craftivism creates dialogue in the hopes of creating a positive change via personalised activism.

The following presentation is a form of many other possible forms of craftivism that could start this internal dialogue in a discreet manner. What if this dialogue invites more audiences? What if these new audiences were not only women?