This current project, Silent Protest, is something I’ve only recently begun developing — not just creatively, but personally. For a long time, I wasn’t making any work. Life threw some difficult things my way, and those experiences took a serious toll on my mental health and wellbeing. The silence wasn’t just in the art —… Read More silent protest: a work in progress
Throughout history, embroidery has been a quiet yet powerful form of protest — especially behind bars. In prisons, stitching became an act of defiance, a way to reclaim identity, express resistance, and document injustice when voices were silenced. From suffragettes to political prisoners, embroidery offered a rare moment of agency within confinement. Where to Find… Read More prison embroidery: hidden resistance in stitch
In a world of loud protests and fast-paced activism, the Craftivist Movement offers a quieter, more reflective approach to campaigning for change. Combining craft and activism, craftivism uses hand-making — embroidery, knitting, quilting — as a peaceful tool to challenge injustice and encourage thoughtful conversations. What is Craftivism?Coined by writer Betsy Greer in 2003, craftivism… Read More the craftivist movement: gentle protest, powerful change
In a world where protest is often imagined through fire and fury, the suffragettes remind us that resistance can also be stitched by hand, draped across shoulders, and quietly embroidered into banners. Far from being soft or decorative, these textiles of the suffragette movement—sashes, handkerchiefs, banners, and badges—were radical tools of visual and material dissent.… Read More threads of defiance: the protest textiles of the suffragette movement
Fig 1 Lorina Bulwer Textile Sampler Fig 2 Shoddy Exhibition Lorina Bulwer was an English woman who lived during the Victorian era and is remembered today not through conventional records or fame, but through a series of extraordinary, emotionally charged embroidered samplers. Created during her confinement in a workhouse in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, her needlework… Read More lorina bulwer: the embroidered outcry of a forgotten voice
Rachel Bakewell 