The CroChat project was developed for, and first performed during, the 48 Stunden Neukölln Art Festival in Berlin.

This marked the first public, participatory CroChat art experience—an open invitation for passersby to pause, engage, and create together. Over the course of the two-day festival, I met a wide range of people—friends, neighbors, and many complete strangers. It was during these spontaneous encounters that I began to truly grasp the connective power of social crocheting: how it invites conversation, fosters presence, and allows for a quiet kind of togetherness.

In a space where words don’t always come easily, crocheting side by side opened up new ways of relating. Fingers moved, threads intertwined, and something communal began to form—both tangible and intangible.

Where language often raises barriers, shared handwork builds bridges.