Network Movements of Yarn Bombing: Between Resistance and the Mainstrem

A sense of social cohesion is starting to become a catalyst for recreational, conversational, and peaceful circles. For example, cities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Italy, France, England, Spain, and other countries house yarn bombing installations to embrace and protect public spaces. In many occasions, the visual pieces do not directly reflect the represented cause, encouraging the observer to think and feel. Yarn bombing attracts intergenerational audiences that admire, reflect, and use the scenes as backgrounds for their photographs or videos.

These initiatives could be considered network movements, seeing as they urge communities to protect public spaces as centers for reflection and protest—such as of logging and mass construction, gender violence, access to healthcare, corruption, the displacement of communities, freedom of speech, among other causes. This forms a big social network that connects communities both visually and virtually, eliminating physical borders.

Knitting the Sky in San Juan

Street weaving created by a community collective located in Callejón del Toro, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Thanks to Instagram, we learned of a yarn bombing project in Puerto Rico, prompting us to visit the Callejón Toro in Old San Juan. Locals and foreigners alike gathered at the alleyway to observe, photograph, and film a beautiful, colorful sky of knitted patterns. The project, supported by the Museo de San Juan, organized a series of cultural gatherings intended to teach interested members of the community how to knit and to allow them to collaborate in the creation of the cloth.

For context, the art of knitting is an age-old custom reflective of the cultural identity, traditions, signs, and symbols of a group of people, telling their stories and communicating their messages. Over time, it has evolved, leading to the development of a new industry whose commercialization is now part of the capitalist global economy. Industrialization has transformed the practice of knitting, consequently changing the relationship between people and the knitted pieces. It safeguards the body through clothing and accessories and protects it against cold temperatures. Additionally, it is used for decorative purposes and in domestic and commercial settings.

A Fusion of Resistance and the Mainstream?

Geometries and mandalas as visual expressions of textile art.

We observe that practices of resistance and of the mainstream (trends) meet by virtue of communication technologies, in which they coexist. The practice of knitting as a creative process between both young and older people exists for different reasons, some of which intend to raise awareness about slow fashion—the opposite of mass-producing low-cost clothing items—and others searching for ways to communicate a cause. Both motivations are kept alive through photographs and videos published on social media. CartelUrbano.com argues that yarn bombing produces a relationship between women and feminism through its creations. Similarly, they constitute powerful actions that dignify and defend diverse professions.

However, digital media are creations in vogue. Because of this, we observe a fusion according to the interests and needs of the groups that prosume media. People observe the knitted installations together and decide to share photographs and videos of the pieces, leading others to become interested in the art of knitting and motivating them to embrace and defend social causes. In this manner, a sense of conserving and appreciating the knitting process is reproduced. The final product of these collective activities promotes the use of public spaces and leads to both their enjoyment and the admiration of the knitted creations among different groups.

The community geopolitics that come from these yarn artworks is gaining new angles, stemming from their public exhibition and subsequent online publication of photographs and videos. To visually exhibit the knitting process, which is done in a group, is a vital and important action to communicate messages from network movements. In this fashion, human rights advocacy or stances in social discussions on the protection of public spaces and the environment, among others, is inherent to the fabric of citizen wellness, education, and peace.

The author has published a book and various reviewed scientific articles. Currently, she is finishing her doctoral thesis in communications, virtual communities, the political economy of communications, cultural consumption, and the socio-semiotics of mediatization.

Translated by Valeria González-Calero (calerotranslations@gmail.com)

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