Knitting, Fishing and Connection
This powerful drawing, top right in the collage above, is by 13 year old Anja Rozen, a primary school student in Slovenia, it is called, ‘we are all connected.’ From 600,000 international entries from children and young people, Anja’s work was chosen as the winning piece, of the International Plakat Miru competition in 2020-2021, illustrating the theme of peace. Anja, an enthusiastic knitter, may have drawn inspiration from her other passion, knitting, for the idea for this striking piece of artwork.
“My drawing” says Anja, “represents the land that binds us and unites us. Humans are woven together. If someone gives up, others fall. We are all connected to our planet and to each other, but unfortunately, we are little aware of it. We are woven together. Other people weave alongside me, my own story; and I weave theirs.”
Her illustration encourages us to be more conscious of our relationships with one another, fostering that sense of community and shared purpose that is so essential in our search for peace and harmony. Anja Rozen may inspire us to safeguard our connections and strive for a more peaceful and cohesive world.
I spotted Anja’s artwork when Nathan’s Sunday morning message, 9th March, about net fishing as opposed to line fishing, was still much in my mind. I could visualize a large group of people, just like those you see in lower section of the collage, holding securely on to their part of the fishing net, not willing to drop their hold of the net’s edge, for fear that the contents could be lost. The net needed to be held firm by each person. Each person is valued and I need to look after the people to my right and left, and they need to look out for me. We are community together and we are looking out for others to come alongside to hold on to the net and to gather in the fish. I need others to strengthen my hands when they become weak, and my grip might weaken. We need the strong people to launch the net. We need those who are wise leaders to read the weather and the water currents, to know where the fish are likely to be, who can interpret the signs and know when to launch, close the net, and secure the catch. We need skilled crafts people to repair the net should it be weak or torn.
I used to play a cooperative game with my school students called ‘the web of strength.’ In this game, everyone stands in a circle and one person starts making a web with a ball of yarn or string. The first person shares a personal strength (e.g., “I’m good at listening”), and throws the ball of string to someone else across the circle. The process continues until everyone has shared a thought or a strength and is connected by the string The end result is a spider’s web of string across the circle. The physical web symbolizes how the students are all interconnected, how they can see their own and others’ strengths and weaknesses and value and support each other.
Connection is vital.
Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4 v 16 NKJV
Jane Coates
March 2025