### Record Type:: [[Claims]] ValueofCraft:: [[Migrant and refugee value of craft]] [[Social value of craft]] ### Note As a collective activity, craft-making can build trust among coworkers and cultivate a sense of belonging through open dialogue or working towards a common goal. Well-curated craft activities create a physical and psychological safe space.  Since 2019, London has seen a new wave of migrants arriving from Hong Kong, many carrying traumatic experiences from the city’s social movement. The Tapestry of Home workshop series in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (Tsang, 2023) invited these migrants and local residents to conduct group weaving of printed materials and facilitated conversations of honesty and vulnerability on social and cultural differences. The interaction between the two groups unfolded a pathway of social integration. Craft helps us connect with other people. When done collectively, it can be a sociable activity that fosters meaningful relationships involving trust and interdependence, which adds to our well-being and a sense of connectedness. Finlay (1993) and Kankaro (2021) argue that crafting together enables people to be with each other without having to exchange frequent eye contact, thus making communication easier and adding to group bonding. Qualitative studies of gardening also revealed that such activities offer a structured environment that fosters learning and social interaction (Neuberger 1995, Sempik et al. 2003, Jepson 2014).  Making together, sharing knowledge, and learning with others through workshops, craft festivals, and open-source designs for DIY (do-it-yourself), not only provides a sense of autonomy but also builds solidarity by empowering people and communities. Besides contributing to the sharing economy and reducing consumption, this can counter the feelings of alienation and isolation brought by capitalist and industrial modes of production (Wehr, 2013). ### References %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start ```dataview list summary from [[Claim - Craft is a collective activity that forges trust and belonging]] where contains(file.path,"Warp") ``` %% - [[Warp/Appropriate Technology, Traditional Cultures and Degrowth.md|Appropriate Technology, Traditional Cultures and Degrowth]]: Handmaking helps sustain communities. - [[Warp/Bamboo Crafts Development Projects in Indonesia.md|Bamboo Crafts Development Projects in Indonesia]]: Bamboo production is embedded in the social structure. - [[Warp/Community among Afghan refugees at the Silaiwali workshop, India.md|Community among Afghan refugees at the Silaiwali workshop, India]]: This initiative helps the migrant Afghan community re-establish themselves in Delhi by making dolls from textile wastes. - [[Warp/Craft Communities.md|Craft Communities]]: This edited volume contains many case studies of how craft helps build communities. - [[Warp/Craft design and product development training with Hong Kong based refugees.md|Craft design and product development training with Hong Kong based refugees]]: In a cultural-based design training for displaced craftspeople in Hong Kong, participants are encouraged to engage with their cultural roots in the creative process and question their own social identity in developing product prototypes. - [[Warp/Crafting Health and Wellbeing - European Crafts Alliance.md|Crafting Health and Wellbeing - European Crafts Alliance]]: A comprehensive European study examining how craft practices contribute to psychological, physical, social, cultural, and environmental wellbeing across the lifespan. - [[Warp/Crafting Social - How Creativity and Entrepreneurship Can Foster Social Inclusion.md|Crafting Social - How Creativity and Entrepreneurship Can Foster Social Inclusion]]: A number of European projects show the link between craft creativity and social inclusion. - [[Warp/Crafting With a Purpose How the ‘Work’ of the Workshop Makes, Promotes and Embodies Well-Being.md|Crafting With a Purpose How the ‘Work’ of the Workshop Makes, Promotes and Embodies Well-Being]]: Two projects, Craftivist Garden and Kotha and Kantha, use craft as a way to connect people and share stories. - [[Warp/Creating sanctuary through beading - The South Sudanese Elders group.md|Creating sanctuary through beading - The South Sudanese Elders group]]: Craft activities create a physical and psychological safe space for these South Sudanese women to connect and share cross-generationally. - [[Warp/Indego Africa’s Basket Weaving, Rwanda and Ghana.md|Indego Africa’s Basket Weaving, Rwanda and Ghana]]: Craft and business training at Mahama Refugee Camp by Indego Africa provides livelihood and builds a production network (through cooperatives) within the camp. - [[Warp/Keep Well Ireland.md|Keep Well Ireland]]: A number of craft projects responded to the Irish government's campaign to help recovery from the COVID pandemic by using craft to stay connected. - [[Warp/Men's Sheds.md|Men's Sheds]]: They give men opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder, rather than being clients or patients. - [[Warp/Refugees in towns.md|Refugees in towns]]: The Refugees In Towns project has been involved in the practical use of crafts (embroideries, stitching) as an efficient medium for refugees to address trauma and issues related to displacement and resettlement as well as a tool for integration. - [[Warp/Talks/Craft Communities talk.md|Craft Communities talk]]: Susan Luckman and Amy Twigger Holroyd discussed the embeddedness of craft in a community of makers. - [[Warp/Tapestry of home.md|Tapestry of home]]: A participatory textile art project in London explores concepts of home-making of Hong Kong migrant communities. - [[Warp/The Craft of Wearable Wellbeing.md|The Craft of Wearable Wellbeing]]: Craft process in designing wearable health devices are helpful. - [[Warp/When Stitches Speak Across Borders.md|When Stitches Speak Across Borders]]: A project involves collaboration between refugee Afghan and Indian artisans %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %%