Craftivism: Building Grassroots Capacity
Open Gallery
July 26 to August 23, 2025
Craftivism, is “a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper, and your quest for justice more infinite.” ~Betsey Greer
In 2022, we gathered as a group of Kamloops community organizers who were busy bringing to life projects and advocating for more resilient and equitable housing and food systems. We began tapping into the creativity of the community by hosting craftivism workshops. Experimenting with what takes place at the intersection between art and activism was fruitful for us. This exhibition features the creative expression of workshop participants. Distributable zines, buttons, and patches make their way into the community in unexpected ways and have unanticipated ripple effects. Please take one with you and help its message spread.
The meaning behind these creative works is simple: housing for all, local food matters, decolonize, de-commodify. We will not hesitate to tell you the changes we are working toward. At the same time, a closer look reveals something deeper and more subtly radical beneath the surface. We started calling our workshops “could bees,” or “work bees for the imagination.” Most of us have been living with deep inequities for so long, we have forgotten just how radical it is to imagine a different future. We invite you to imagine with us, then work to make it real.
“The ultimate, hidden truth of the world, is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” ~David Graeber
With gratitude to the following organizers who made the craftivism workshops possible: Ali MacBoudreau, Bonnie Klohn, Heather Lee, Jess Payette, Jyelle Vogel, Lindsay Harris, Lyssa Martin, Naya Macaulay, Robin Reid, Saeideh Hejazi, and Tristan Muhr.
Presented in collaboration with the Kamloops Art Gallery, the Kamloops Food Policy Council, and Propolis Cooperative Housing Society.
Photo: Lindsay Harris
