Bombs Away
If you’ve been eagle-eyed in Salisbury for the past two summers, you
may have noticed that things in Salisbury have got a bit, well, woollier.
Lamp posts, bike racks, statues, railings, flag poles, benches and trees
have acquired knitted and crocheted items; some have been wrapped in
‘cosies’, while others have full scale art projects attached to them. What
the hell is this all about?
It’s called Yarnbombing (sometimes called yarnstorming, graffiti
knitting or guerrilla knitting), and it’s a community street art phenomenon
that has been sweeping the world for at least the past ten years.
Yarnbombing is the decorating of free standing objects in public places,
such as street furniture, with yarn; items knitted, crocheted and woven, by
members of the local community. Yarnbombers have different agendas,
but most seek to draw attention to public places that need some love,
make social commentary or just generally cheer the place up. Although
yarnbombs are by their nature non-permanent and non-destructive, the
practice is technically illegal – it’s classified as littering – but it’s rarely
prosecuted.
The origins of yarnbombing are unclear, but examples have been
recorded as early as 2004 in the Netherlands, and 2005 in the USA. The
start of this movement has been attributed to Magda Sayeg from Texas.
Then Lauren O’Farrell founded London collective Knit The City, and
shifted the movement on from ‘cosies’ to themed or narrative knitted
installations in 2009.
In 2012, Salisbury formed its first yarnbombing group in a pub
after a few people had expressed an interest in yarnbombing on
Facebook.