Weekend Review: Crafting a Better World

Crafting a Better World / Diana Weymar
NY: Harvest, c2024.
167 p.

Another book about craftivism, this is one that I was looking forward to, as soon as I saw it in my library's catalogue. It's a little book, about the size of a paperback although it's hardcover, with a cute cover, too. 

It's written by Diana Weymar, creator of the Tiny Pricks Project using embroidery to make a political statement after the 2016 election. And so this book is US-centric, both in the crafters included and the political references. There are interesting stories with a few from around the world as well, but to me it read very American. 

It features some of the usual suspects, like the Pink Pussyhat project, with a brief description of the project and sometimes an interview of sorts, in which those involved answered a few questions put to them by Weymar. Some of the people included really didn't answer many of the questions, though, and those are very short highlights indeed. There is a focus on the people who Weymar knows, also, and some of the 'craft' that is highlighted isn't what I had expected from the use of the word 'craftivism' which generally indicates fibre arts in some form (and the cover images too). There was a story about a woman making and selling chocolate vulvas, which, I guess. And some famous people were included, like Jamie Lee Curtis, with a short profile. 

The book is a series of profiles of 25 crafters, artists or just activists who the author finds inspiring and wants to share. Some of them don't have much connection to traditional craft at all. The plus is that you can then search out anyone who seems interesting and find out more about them online. And there were LGBTQ+ and people of colour profiled, too, which was nice to have included. 

I did find the small size a bit off-putting, making this book harder to read. And I suppose it just wasn't quite what I was expecting - I was hoping for some conversation about craftivism, aka slow activism, as discussed by people like Sarah Corbett - maybe even a few ideas for projects. But this book isn't that. There aren't projects in it, except for the mention of the ones spurred on by the personalities profiled here. So as a record of activism, this is fine, but if you are looking for more in-depth discussion or inspiration for actual craftivism, I'd say try another title. I think the "DIY Projects" from the subtitle got lost somewhere in the mix. Get this one from the library if you can, so that you can skim through and see if it's the book for you.