Deafblind West Australians’ yarn bombing project goes global in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis!

The current COVID-19 crisis is bringing together people from all walks of life in a huge variety of creative, supportive and virtual ways. This is the story about one way we are adapting to these challenging times and continuing to reach out and bring people in the deafblind community together

What is yarn bombing?

The complete history of yarn bombing is lost in the mists of time and has been attributed to several different people. It is believed that the practise first originated in the United States when Texas knitters tried to find a creative way to use their leftover and unfinished knitting projects, creating a form of “inoffensive graffiti”. Yet, the start of the contemporary movement is often attributed to Magda Sayeg from Houston who coined the term after first covering the door handle of her boutique with a custom-made cozy in 2005. It attracted attention from passers-by, inspiring Sayeg to venture further with the idea of covering objects with yarn. She became curious about the idea of enhancing the ordinary, the mundane, even the ugly, and not taking away its identity or its functionality, but just giving it a well-tailored suit out of knitting. First starting with small “yarn bombs” such as sign poles and fire hydrants in her hometown, she soon ventured into transforming urban landscapes into her own playground.

While Sayeg’s foray into yarn bombing was somewhat accidental, she spurred on a global community of yarn bombers, with yarn bombing crews founded across Europe, North America and Australia. One of the first yarn bombing collectives was Knit the City from London founded by Lauren O’Farell who has moved the concept from simple “cozies” to the “stitched story”.

The Craft Club Yarn bombers became Guinness World Record holders for the largest display of crochet sculptures, when they yarn bombed a children’s hospice with 13,388 crocheted items.

Yarn Bombing Los Angeles (YBLA) is a yarn bombing collective located in Los Angeles, CA. The collective describe themselves as a group of guerrilla knitters who have been collaborating since 2010. They currently have 10+ projects in progress throughout the Los Angeles and nearby communities.

Advertising campaigns have also capitalized on the yarnbombing trend: Knit the City was commissioned by Toyota to create a 2013 installation in London.

What’s yarn bombing got to do with Deafblind West Australians’ Peer Support Group?

In 2019, the Deafblind West Australian peer support group, supported by Senses Australia, made a successful grant application to do a yarn bombing installation in conjunction with Deafblind Awareness Week 2020. The plan was to combine the arts, wellbeing and disability to improve community space with a tactile art project constructed by people with dual sensory loss, their families, carers and the extended community.

The objective of this exciting, fun and creative project was to engage members of the deafblind community in a local community tactile arts project. The overarching goal was to raise awareness of deafblindness in the broader community whilst increasing capacity, skills, creativity and inclusion. This installation will share a message of inclusion whilst beautifying the community.

A project coordinator was appointed, and work was underway planning for workshops to upskill members. A general call describing the project and its goals was also circulated to the broader community to start making squares for this installation. We received a fantastic reaction and multiple community groups are now assisting our group and donating 20 × 20cm squares that will become part of the installation.

COVID-19 hits

Unfortunately, we are now not able to meet to upskill our members and work together on this installation, and the event for the deafblind awareness week has been postponed. So our plan is to promote throughout the deafblind community and continue to make the squares. There are multiple YouTube channels that teach basic knitting and crocheting skills – these won’t be accessible to all members, so in the interim we are encouraging communication guides, family and friends to support our most isolated members to start making the 20 × 20cm squares at home.

This project and the call for knitters and crocheters to get busy was seen on social media by Roxanna Spruyt, DbI Board member and CEO of Deafblind Services Ontario. Roxanna connected me with Karen Madho and Kelly Patterson, both from Deafblind Ontario and involved in the National Deafblind Awareness month working group. From this connection, we have since met online and a lot of energy and enthusiasm has been generated about the possibility of a joint, even global project.

Step one

Senses Australia will be hosting a National Deafblind camp in November 2020. This is our new target date for the first yarn bombing event, post the COVID-19 crisis. We are calling out globally and hope to add squares from all over the world to this exciting initiative. We will be yarn bombing a very large tree that is a part of the Heritage site at Woodman Point recreation camp. The camp is accessed by thousands of people every year, so our story and our installation will continue to be shared and enjoyed for a long time to come.

Deafblind Awareness Week 2021

After conversations with Karen and Kelly we are now also working towards a joint event for Deafblind Awareness Week 2021. We will be hosting mutual yarn bombing events in Australia and Canada. We would love to see this go global for Deafblind Awareness Week 2021 and have multiple deafblind communities in multiple countries hosting their own tactile yarn bombing events simultaneously!

Get your yarn on!

So first, whilst we are all in isolation during the COVID-19 crisis, get your yarn on and start making those 20 × 20cm squares, please note they do not have to be exact, they can be bigger or smaller, no problem. Once you have a bunch, send them down to Australia to be added to the tactile art installation in Western Australia at the National Deafblind Camp, November 19–22, 2020. If you are interested in a yarn bombing project of your own as part of the celebrations of Deafblind Awareness Week 2021, please let us know.

There are challenging and exciting times ahead for us all. I know the deafblind community will support each other as they always do. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or ideas about how we can continue to move forward, connect and support our community.

Author: Karen Wickham Senior Social Worker, Deafblind Consultant karen.wickham@senses.org.au