Make a difference with craftivism
Can you use craft to help make the world a better place, one stitch at a time? Writer, comedian and art lover Jenny Eclair meets people doing extraordinary things with knitting, cross-stitch, banners and felt to change hearts and minds.
Hearing stories from craftivists around the UK and beyond, Jenny visits Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire to see how miniature knickers are discreetly placed around the town to encourage screening for cervical cancer, and learns how felt 'graffiti' has a wellbeing message for visitors to a London park.
From banners at Liverpool Football Club's Anfield Stadium to a huge memorial quilt remembering those who lost their lives to Aids, the initiatives all have one thing in common: a painstaking, thoughtful and beautiful way to get heard. Watch now our stories of craftivism on BBC iPlayer!
Your new Thursday night fun
With Lockdown 3 well underway and no end in sight, we thought we'd offer a little light in the darkness, so we're launching Front Row's new project Get Creative, in collaboration with BBC Arts' Culture in Quarantine.
The UK’s leading artists are sharing quick and easy activities each week on Thursday via BBC Radio 4 at 7.15pm. Watch the first three sessions to learn how to:
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create a literary piece of art for your home with Edmund de Waal,
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make an interesting collage with Sarah Maple,
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try a new approach to listening with Luke Jerram.
We'd love to see what you create. You certainly don't need to be a professional artist to take part! Everyone is welcome.
Show us what you've made by sharing on social media using the hashtag #FrontRowGetCreative and we'll show those that catch our eye on the BBC Arts and Front Row websites.
Open Call for funding
Let’s reduce loneliness and isolation by sharing the gift of creativity!
Five £2,000 micro-commissions will be available for partnership projects across England to help bring people together through creativity while physical gatherings are not possible.
Creative groups and organisations are invited to work together to support those at high risk of loneliness and isolation, deliver participatory creative projects and demonstrate how the project has improved their social connectedness.
Deadline: Sunday 28th February 2021. Learn more.