Guest article by Isabel Bürger – founder of the collective “Crafts and Cramps”

Anyone who knows Jyoti – Fair Works knows what the company stands for: It is primarily about people, not profit. It is about producing fairly and sustainably. And perhaps most importantly: Behind the scenes, there are incredible women in both Team India and Team Germany.
From now on, this can also be seen behind the scenes, because: the “Feminist Statement Shirts” are here!

I am Isabel, founder and creative force of the collective “Crafts and Cramps” and I am writing this guest post to introduce you to our work and the result of our cooperation with Jyoti – Fair Works.

As a trained cultural worker, I have been working for several years in a variety of areas, such as public radio, in project management for an eV or as creative support in a mask theater.
Despite exciting activities, I developed an ever-increasing passion for realizing my own projects, for creating something that is really important to me.

The collective

A year ago I finally founded the artist collective “Crafts and Cramps” – roughly translated: “handcraft and cramps”.

We create socially relevant art and art products – with feminist motifs in the broadest sense – that are intended to raise awareness, tackle taboo topics and empower women*.

Our medium is mainly hand embroidery, but also colours, shapes, stationery, linocut and whatever else we feel like.

In this context, I can explore aspects of my creativity, give lectures on topics that are really important to me, or talk to people at markets who suddenly realize that periods aren't so bad after all.

Over time, embroidery became a kind of therapy for me. On the one hand, I can switch off, concentrate on the fabric and the thread, and forget for a moment what is happening around me and in the world.
On the other hand, I can express myself through detailed handwork and address what concerns me - making visible topics that are often taboo, even in Germany. The biggest of these topics has become "menstrual health" - that is, dealing with periods and the body.

Jyoti and we

Our views and values ​​are not only reflected in our art and our art products, but also in the materials we use to create them. For example, when I do embroidery, I mainly work with fabrics from Jyoti - Fair Works.

Jeanine and I have known each other since I interviewed her for a radio program almost five years ago. Since then, I have been the proud owner of various Jyoti products myself and have also brought those around me on board.
In discussions about our projects and plans, we eventually came to talk about the downright schizophrenic commercialization of the feminist movement. I think it is good and right to make views visible, for example, through printed T-shirts, bags or patches. Art and fashion can take topics out of one's own bubble, empower them and visualize social movements.
The way in which this has happened in recent years is difficult. For example, a T-shirt that is produced under inhumane conditions and sold by fast-fashion chains can never be feminist. Even the label "Feminist" doesn't change that!

And now?

Eventually the question arose: “How can a T-shirt with a feminist message really be feminist?” What we wanted was a statement shirt that was produced fairly and sustainably and that truly deserved the “Feminist!” label.
Actually, everything was already ready for this, after all, that is exactly the core of Jyoti.

In addition, Jyoti has already gained some experience with hand-embroidered products in recent years and women in India have also repeatedly expressed the desire to be able to pursue this beloved activity more intensively again.

For a few weeks I experimented with ideas, colors, and keywords and finally we found two motifs that the women in Team India wanted to embroider. Two motifs that said what we wanted to visualize and that we also found beautiful.

Oh and before I forget: Here you can find an exciting TED talk that Jeanine gave last year on exactly this topic.