By Shelley Anderson, TRC volunteer, 8 June 2024

The recent five-day ErasmusPlus study tour to Finland by five TRC volunteers, supported by European Union funding, was a stimulating learning opportunity.

Mannequin in regional Finnish dress, holding a hand carved, decorated distaff, late 19th century. Such spindles were given to women as part of courtship for marriage. From the National Crafts Museum, Jyvaskyla. Photograph by Hanke van ProoijeWe were introduced to the work of Taito (Finnish for 'craft'), the national Finnish umbrella organization for the promotion of crafts. Taito's activities to preserve traditional skills, including weaving, knitting, rug making and basketry, are truly impfessive. We also visited the KSL Study Centre (run by the KSL Civic Association for Adult Learning), which uses crafts such as sewing and quilting to promote community participation and social dialogue.

We visited KSL’s stall at the World Village Festival, an annual Helsinki weekend event that each year attracts thousands of people. We assisted in distributing a small kit with felt, a needle and different coloured thread, with a flyer about craftivism, for free.

With this kit, people are encouraged to start embroidering something of their liking and thereby help to build a world where nature, animals and humans are all respected. “We want to inspire people, especially people who might not identify with traditional means of activism (e.g., marching or gathering signatures for a petition), to take part in social debates,” said KSL coordinator, Riina Nasi.

KSL also helps pensioners in different senior citizen homes to embroider panels for a massive “memory” quilt, in order to share those memories with others. Another craftivism project involves bringing people together to stitch “My Promise to Finland”--an individual action each person promises to make towards building a better society.

There was also a very interesting discussion at the stall with craftivist Niko Lindgren, who is doing research at the University of Helsinki on the relationship between crafts and the education of children  There is a lot of research that shows a connection between using one’s hands in a craft and, an increased concentration, especially with children, he pointed out. Niko also helps to organize a monthly mending class at a local shopping centre, where volunteers also repair shoppers’ clothes for free. 

Postage stamp from Finland, 1972: TRC 2018.2122f.

Postage stamp from Finland, 1972. TRC 2018.2122g.Postage stamp from Finland, 1972. TRC 2018.2122h.

Both Riina and Niko raised points that were repeated by everyone we spoke to: traditional skills, including textile skills, are part of the national school curriculum in Finland. This means that every student “might not master a technique, but in theory has a basic understanding of crafts,” according to Riina. This creates an awareness of and respect for traditional skills that does not always exist elsewhere.

Crucially, both added, craft programmes such as those of the KSL Study Centre, and the work of craft organizations sich as Taito, receive substantial financial support from the Finnish government, although at present the Finnish government is planning to cut the funding of arts and culture, said Anna Siekkinen of Taito.

Felted hats, Taito Regional Crafts Centre, Jyvaskyla, Finland. Photograph by author.Taito, founded in 1913, offers short courses in sixteen different crafts, including natural dyeing, crochetting, needle punching, leather work and more. They sell DIY kits and their forty courses attract some 130,000 adults each year (plus 3,000 children), while their exhibitions reach over a million people.

Crucially, Taito supports artisans in selling their work in 32 Taito shops around the country. It also teaches artisans how to open their own businesses. Additionally, Taito operates fourteen craft centres across the country where artisans can rent equipment, or interested people can take courses.

We were given a personal tour of one such regional Taito centre, in the city of Jyvaskyla, by Mari Tuimala. The space was astonishing, with fully equipped, separate ateliers for sewing, felting, jewellery making, weaving, carpentry and more. The Centre also has a certification programme in Craft Masters. Our study tour ended with a visit to the Craft Museum of Finland, in Jyvaskyla, where Margareta Rossello Ramon showed us a sampling of the estimated four hundred regional costumes in Finland.

The tour was a very stimulating experience. When reflecting upon our own work in Leiden, I was struck again with the realization how unique and important the TRC’s work is in both educating people about and preserving textile skills. As TRC volunteer Hanke van Prooije said, “It was inspiring to see how Finnish people accept crafts. This is the feeling we try to promote at the TRC.”

Organizer Maria Linkogle said that learning how adult education organizations “are always on the look-out for ways people can explore and express their identity and hopes for the future” was very inspiring. Emilie Lambert agreed, adding, “There is plenty of food for thought. Seeing the different options, the ways we could do workshops, helps to think about the TRC and ways we can get more people involved.”

TRC volunteers on the ErasmusPlus study tour to Finland. (l to r) Emilie Lambert, Shelley Anderson, Maria Linkogle, Maraiah Hartweg, Hanke van Prooije.

Volunteer Maraiah Hartweg said, "Learning about how the KSL encourages the use of textile crafts as tools for self-expression and activism was truly inspiring to see. The opportunity to observe the KSL's grassroot initiatives to use textiles as a medium for expressing emotions and societal concerns was an invaluable learning experience. This opportunity has given me a new perspective on the creative and empowering functions of textile making and craft."

For more information about Taito, and a look at their shop, see www.taito.fi and www.taitoshop.fi

For more information about the KSL Association for Adult Learning and the KSL Study Centre, see www.ksl.fi. A free download of the KSL publication on craftvism, in Finnish and English, is also available from the website.