Crafting Resistance:
A Student-led Session for Teachers

Teachers and educators were invited to join a student-led workshop developed through the Crafting Resistance After School Club, formed at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. The session included creative activities that explored protest and resistance through craft, offering insight into a collaborative model that foregrounded student agency and dialogue, alongside a pop-up display of work developed by the group.

The club formed part of Aasha John’s Visible Practice Residency with Autograph.  Aasha was Head of Art at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and the residency supported her to develop a new body of work within and beyond the school environment. The themes of the club grew directly from her making process, translating this enquiry into the classroom and testing approaches that centred representation and critical conversation through craft.

Since November, students worked with weaving, clay, cyanotype, painting, photography and intergenerational craft traditions, shaping the programme through shared experience and collective making. Following the student-led activities, educators were invited to reflect on how similar approaches might be adapted within their own contexts, including shifting classroom dynamics and the role that publicly presenting student work can play in building confidence and identity.

Please note: This session was part of our teachers’ programme, and was specifically aimed at primary and secondary school teachers.

It was programmed in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery as part of Autograph's Visible Practice Residency project.