Street Arts can be found anywhere in the world. It is a visual art created in public locations.
I myself was not familiar with it however last August 2017, I read in a newspaper about some artists from Baguio City who decorated the city’s eyesores with yarn bombs. The eyesores include old telephone posts and dilapidated buildings. The news stated that a group of artists in the northern Luzon city of Baguio believed that it does not take much to brighten up even the darkest of eyesores in town. Thus, they came up with crocheted yarn bomb pieces scattered along Session Road. Visions of crocheted flowers were seen on the walls and pavements plus colorful scarves wrapped around light posts. I go to Baguio every year but too bad, it was late when I read about it so I wasn’t able to see it personally.
I also read somewhere that 2 famous places in the USA had Yarn Bombing exhibits which caught the attention of many. One was in Williamsburg Bridge, New York City. The "Yarn Bombing Exhibit" was called "Rituals" . It was done by the HOTTEA who decided to jazz up the pedestrian walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge that connects Brooklyn to Manhattan, creating a rainbow effect for hundreds and bikers and pedestrians to enjoy.
The second one was the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles. Colorful squares were actually crocheted granny squares which were the work of a group of knitters called “Yarnbombing Los Angeles” who have been staging public installations since 2010. More than 500 crafters from around the world contributed to that specific project. After the installation is taken down, the squares will be sewn into blankets and distributed to Skid Row residents. I have also been in those 2 cities but wasn’t able to witness those Yarn Bomb Exhibits.
Nevertheless, I am happy to say that just recently, there was a Yarn Bombing Exhibit that was done by the famous fashion designer-- Lulu Tan Gan. Lulu is known for her iconic knitwear, which redefined the versatility of knits for the local fashion industry. She came up with the project dubbed as “Yarn Bomb Knit Bomb.” The exhibit was done by the designer herself in collaboration with the Ayala Museum. While she is famous for dressing women in her always popular knitwear, she explored the possibility of designing the Greenbelt Park in crochet for the exhibit. Yes, the good thing about the exhibit was it wasn’t held in a conventional location like inside a museum or gallery.
Alternatively, it was scattered all over the landscaped garden at the center of Greenbelt in Makati. The walkway path between Greenbelt 4 and Greenbelt 5, had Tinguian and T’Boli-inspired hand-loomed knits in blue, green, black, and turquoise. The steps behind the Greenbelt chapel, had bright pink, blue, and yellow knits covering the bamboo trees. The centerpiece of the exhibit was the Retro Galactic Communitree which was covered in crochet doilies done in bright shades , designed in partnership with crowdsourced craft enthusiasts. The towering tree was incomparable because the crocheted creations were finished in contrasting expressive style from emojis to crochet creatures climbing up the branches which made it more fascinating to the eyes.
I was lucky to have seen the exhibit on its last day which happened last January 14, 2018.
NOTE: The exhibit was a collaboration between Tan-Gan and fashion design students of the College of Saint Benilde and Ayala Museum, who crowdsourced from crochet hobbyists.
