I looked at this policy to update my knowledge on the current design aims on my host course BA Textile Design
Some notes…
Jan 2023
This resource/policy led me to re-thinking my biases around the fashion and textiles industry. As a creative practitioner I made a decision early on that I did not not want to work in the fashion industry, because of the social, political and ethical implications that did not sit with my personal values. The Crafts Council exhibition ‘Cotton, land, labour, body’ spoke of the economic, historic, colonial and social justice issues surrounding the production of fabric, textiles and design history documantation, and ways that these have been skewed from original practices, meaning and sources, eg. the origins of the ‘paisley’ design. For me these issues are important for my own knowledge, practice and self-growth. Expanding my knowledge of the political, social, historical, racial, intersectional spaces surrounding Textiles inform my creative practice and my pedagogy. I would like to be in a position to inform my students of these hidden, suppressed histories. I would hope that young people at university level, and the colleagues I work with are at least aware of their own cultural history and have some understanding of the impact of colonialism and Empire on current practices in a global, national and local scale, and the ways these impact our lives and work. Sustainability is a much used word. But a less utilised practice in reality. Myself included.