Join us to weave One Billion stars by 2032

We’ve created a new goal – to weave One Billion Stars by 2032 for violence free communities. And we’re excited!

Achieving One Million Stars, 2012 – 2018

It’s been an incredible journey to date, running star weaving workshops, meeting new people, and sharing the origin story of the One Million Stars to End Violence project.

We’ve had the privilege of travelling to communities across Australia, the South Pacific, UK and Canada to weave stars and hear stories of women and men healing from domestic violence.

It is always an honour to hear people speak of their survival and witness their resilience. Their willingness to embrace star weaving as an activity to help share their story and continue the conversation is exactly what the project is about. They are our beacons of light.

Star weaving has become more about creating healthy, connected, active communities, not just the absence of violence. It’s about bringing joy and hope to the communities we care about.

Weaving and collecting one million stars has been an epic achievement. We could not have reached this dream goal of one million stars if not for some inspiring partnerships.

Here’s a glimpse into some of our highlights leading up to the One Million Stars installation at King George Square, Brisbane for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games:

• – First 10,000 star installation at The Big Design Market, Royal Exhibition Building 2012
• – Partnering with the Queensland Government, Office of Commonwealth Games, Museum of Brisbane, Human Ventures and Lumen Cloud to make one million stars a reality. Shout out to Gillian Gardener, Louise Doble and Asha for their leadership and belief in our star weaving movement.
• – Engaging over 200 Star Weave Communities, pledging to weave 10,000 stars each (Our original idea was to find 100 communities!)
• Reaching communities in 15 countries, including Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Japan, Guam, Malaysia, Barbados, USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and Kenya.
• – Collecting over 2.4 million woven stars. This is more than double of what we envisioned! This allowed additional displays in Cairns, Townsville, the Gold Coast and the Brisbane Powerhouse Museum during the GC2018.
• – School Star Weaving Jams during National Day of Activism Against Bullying and Violence in 2016

Why One Billion Stars by 2032?

Now that we’ve displayed one million woven stars, what’s next for our star weaving community? What else can we do to build on the impact and global community that’s been woven together over the last 10 years?

For those that have been star weaving with us since 2012, you’ll know that it has never been about the number. We chose one million because it represents how massive, layered, and complicated the issue of violence is.

Our focus for One Million Stars and now One Billion Stars remains the same: to promote star weaving as a powerful way to create a sense of belonging, hope and small actions of kindness, courage, and change.

We realise that the conversation to end violence will and needs to continue, regardless of the number of woven stars made. With this in mind, we knew deep down, that reaching one million stars was possible. It also shows us that one billion stars is possible as well.

Community participation and conversations are our number one focus. The number of stars is simply a goal to aspire to together, to celebrate and achieve together. The process of star weaving is what binds us, making us stronger as a community to deal with the tragedy of violence against women, bullying and racism.

Even with the challenges and restrictions of COVID, star weavers have shown us that weaving continues to support community connections by bringing people together to weave and have conversations online and in person.

We are proud to offer something that is connected to deep cultural memories of making, crafting, and gathering as a people for social and mental health.

Just as the One Million Stars to End Violence project had a goal of one million stars by 2018, we’ve set 2032 as our next date. By then, the star weaving project will be 20 years old. Now have something new to work towards together.

How are we going to weave and display one billion stars?

We’ve learnt a lot over the last 10 years of growing this global star weaving community and we want to make it easy for people to learn about and get involved in One Billion Stars.

We’re committed to creating resources such as guides, tutorials, and videos throughout 2022 to help communities start their weaving journey with confidence.

To reach one billion stars, we’re focussed on:

• – Creating star weaving kits with pre-cut materials, print out of instructions plus links to online star weaving tutorials.
• – Building more Star Weave Communities who pledge to weave 10,000 / 100,000 or 1 million stars.
• – Running workshops, presentations and interviews with leaders who are making a positive contribution to their communities through the arts, policy, business, and sport.
• – Supporting communities to display woven stars in their own communities.

Over the next 10 years, our vision is to see thousands of woven star installations around the world as we work towards one billion stars in 2032. They can be as small as 100 stars or as big as one million.

We want to continue building on the sense of ownership that communities feel when they activate star weaving in their local contexts.

We’re inviting businesses, schools and health organisations to partner with us to create woven star installations in their work and learning spaces, to show their communities that they care about ending violence. Please contact us to learn more about how we can work together.

How can communities and individuals get involved?

Anyone can learn how to weave a star.

We encourage everyone – schools, organisations, businesses, sports teams, health centres to run star weaving workshops, become Star Weave Communities or create woven star installations in their learning and workspaces. Make sure you check out out our resources, star weaving kits and tips on how
to get involved.

One Billion Stars is more than star weaving and creating beautiful displays.

We’re investing in the arts to help create communities that care about each other and their stories.

We believe that regular, accessible arts play a critical role in building thriving and peaceful communities long term.

Remember, star weaving workshops are a wonderful, non-threatening war to connect communities with local support services. We don’t have to rely on a tragedy to come together to create change, we can do this every day, with joy and with courage.

Communities can get involved by:

• – Becoming a Star Weave Community
• – Displaying stars during significant annual events, like NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week, World Mental Health Day and 16 Days of Activism.
• – Purchasing one of our star weaving kits and getting started
• – Spreading the star love (in COVID safe ways) either online or booking a workshop and presentation with us.
• – Sharing, following, and tagging us on social media. We’re on Instagram, facebook and we’ve got some helpful resources to help you and others get started.

We know that violence is a global emergency that calls on each of us to participate and find solutions. It requires each of us to draw on our individual skills and strengths to build something new, safe, and inclusive for everyone.

That’s why we love that star weaving is something we can do every day, to help us turn complex issues such as violence into simple, manageable, positive actions.

We don’t need to know all the answers and we certainly don’t need to carry the responsibility of ending violence on our own.

When we see our woven stars on display, they are the guiding light and symbol that we can achieve BIG things when we work together.

One Billion Stars continues to remind us, that anything is possible when we have a spirit of collaboration and partnership for the benefit of everyone.

Join us, everyone is welcome. Let’s build more connected and resilient communities across the globe using the power, joy and therapy of star weaving.

Happy Star Weaving and Happy 2022!

Maryann Talia Pau

Co Founder, One Billion Stars.