Pom Poms in the Palms of Peace

Yesterday was possibly the most dreich day of the year so far. I woke up to heavy rain and the greyest of skies. It didn't feel like a good day to be going outside.

But it was - I was off the the Scottish Green Party's Women's Network Day of Action!

I had been asked to host a craftivism element to the day. (For those unfamiliar, please do check out Betsy Greer's Craftivism and Sarah Corbett's work Craftivist Collective.) This is where I (try to) shine. I love crafts. I love working with my hands. I have also long struggled to find my voice politically. When a friend introduced me to the idea, it was like discovering coffee for the first time. Where had it been all my life? I ordered one of Sarah's Craftivist Collective Mini Protest Banner kits and reignited my love of hand stitching.

 I made this for an anti-fracking demonstration at Ineos, Grangemouth last year. I did try to tie it to a post at the site, but rookie mistake - my cable ties were too wee! Now it comes to all demonstrations with me, and I have others in the making!

Back to yesterday... The Day of Action was a day to celebrate and empower women, coinciding with the United Nation's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. With talks from Engender, Zero Tolerence, Women for Independence and the NUS, the discussions were highly thought provoking and inspiring! The NUS workshop in particular reminded me of the importance, and power, of language and communication.

My Crativism project for the day was "Pom Poms in the Palms of Peace".

Taking the colours of Green, for the Party, and orange, the UN's 16 Days of Action colour, I asked attendees to trace around and cut out their own handprint. and write a message inspired by the discussions and topics of the day. Then we made pom poms from tissue paper, which were threaded onto the paper palms, and hung on a "tree". The tree was made from oak tree branches which I tied together and mounted on a plywood cross for support. I then wrapped an old green tshirt around the base for aesthetic purposes.

This turned out to be a fun and simple way for the women to express themselves. Some found it to be almost theraputic; this is something which craft in general does for me and why I love it. Many now had a simple yet effective project to take to other aspects of their lives and share. One girl even went home with supplies to decorate her Christmas tree with Pom Poms and Palms!

Hopefully "trees" across the world might one day be blooming with "Pom Poms in the Palms of Peace". I will keep this project going until my tree is fully in bloom.

Thank you to Sarah for organising such a great event and inviting me to be a part of it, and to those who engaged with my project.

If you would like "Pom Poms in the Palms of Peace" to come along to your event, please do get in touch! Email me - gillsndrussell@gmail.com.