Hello, GYOPO Community!

We want to raise $1,200 for Ktown street vendors in GYOPO's vicinity (the 8th and Vermont intersection) who are impacted by ICE.

We're looking for 20-30 of volunteers to come and help us make 60 dragonfly maedeup (매듭) keychains. If each person ties two, and we can sell them for $20 each (on our GYOPO shop site), we will reach our goal!

This workshop at GYOPO's Koreatown space will be led by Nancy Lee (Handmade by Nensh). She will instruct us in a couple basic knots needed for the keychains. All supplies will be provided!

Please feel free to bring a friend or two who are aligned with this cause! The diasporic Korean community knows migration is sacred! Let's help our neighbors in an acute time of need, and gather in community while doing it.

With love,

GYOPO

reference image from this shop

Maedeup (매듭) is the traditional Korean art of knot tying.

Knots carry deep symbolic meaning across cultures across the globe– often representing connection, eternity, the intertwining of lives, love and spiritual paths. For GYOPO, we think of the ways in which our organization is built upon the ties we have to each other, the connection we have to place, to our ancestors, and to a long lineage of cultural producers.

Dragonflies are migratory insects (like the butterfly)! They migrate, and some dragonfly species undertake remarkable multi-generational journeys. An example of a dragonfly that you've probably seen before is the common green darner (Anax junius). It engages in annual migrations in North America, involving both northward and southward movements, with some populations completing a round trip over multiple generations. While dragonflies are not as as well-studied as monarch butterfly migrations, they are gaining recognition for their complexity and scale.

GYOPO Maedeup Workshop for Ktown Street Vendors

led by Nancy Lee (Handmade by Nensh)