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In Indonesia, Knitting Gets Political
By Theodora Sutcliffe
Fitriani Dalay is challenging artistic censorship, one stitch at a time.
Public art like graffiti has long been used as a tool for political commentary and change. In the town of Makassar, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, that politically charged art is of a less typical variety: knitting and yarn-bombing.
The act of yarn-bombing — which involves wrapping structures in knits, essentially replacing graffiti paint with crochet — was first popularized by Austin-based artist Madga Sayeg, and made waves in Jakarta, Indonesia a few years ago, when it was initially used as a way to celebrate the country’s diversity. In Makassar, though, the act is being utilized by artist Fitriani Dalay for other ends: to challenge consumerism, censorship, and elitism in the political and art worlds, while empowering women.
Fitriani’s anti-establishment work has quickly gained attention; last year, her arts cooperative…