Abstract
Heritage arts and crafts are vital to a nation as they are an artistic expression of its cultural connotations as well as a reflection of its historical development. They are visual communication tools utilised to present and sustain the cultural characteristics and artistic traditions of a particular region. Many of these skills, however, are on the verge of extinction. According to the research published by the Heritage Craft Association [HCA] in May 2021, the total number of ‘endangered’ crafts increased to seventy-four, along with an additional twenty new ‘critically endangered’ crafts added between March 2019 and May 2021. Finding solutions or strategies to slow down the pace of extinction has become increasingly critical for all heritage crafts. This paper considers some of the contextual and methodological issues of a practice-based doctoral research project that focuses on modern technologies and the endangered textile crafts and the culture associated with minority ethnic groups in China. The main objective of this research is to add a new dimension to traditional crafts by integrating new technologies such as electronic textiles to rejuvenate them. This paper explores the translation of aspects of traditional crafts into contemporary textiles through processes of replicating and prototyping. This strategy, based on the communication of textile knowledge is distinct from other approaches such as the use of handcraft techniques in haute couture or luxury product lines, it seeks to revitalise crafts by employing an unlearning process and acknowledging experiential knowledge through iterative, hands-on textile prototyping processes to create more contemporary modes of textile expression, rather than product applications. A selection of prototypes, including experiments with traditional weaving and embroidery techniques, as well as the use of these techniques in developing e-textile experiments, will be discussed. This practice-driven research encourages creative risk-taking, happy accidents, and improvisation by experimenting with traditional stitch structures, ancient and new yarns and unfamiliar e-textile components and processes. This paper reflects on diverse prototyping processes and shares insights from a collaborative process with experts from various disciplines. It explores how modern technologies, contemporary materials, and traditional handicraft processes can be cohesively combined to produce interactive e textile narratives through material understanding and making processes.
Keywords
Heritage crafts, Experiential knowledge, Prototyping, Unlearning, Interactive e-textile, Narratives
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.123
Citation
Wang, Y., Cleveland, D.,and Joseph, F.(2023) New Textile Transmissions: Reviving traditional textile crafts through replication, unlearning and prototyping, in Silvia Ferraris, Valentina Rognoli, Nithikul Nimkulrat (eds.), EKSIG 2023: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research, 19–20 June 2023, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.123
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
New Textile Transmissions: Reviving traditional textile crafts through replication, unlearning and prototyping
Heritage arts and crafts are vital to a nation as they are an artistic expression of its cultural connotations as well as a reflection of its historical development. They are visual communication tools utilised to present and sustain the cultural characteristics and artistic traditions of a particular region. Many of these skills, however, are on the verge of extinction. According to the research published by the Heritage Craft Association [HCA] in May 2021, the total number of ‘endangered’ crafts increased to seventy-four, along with an additional twenty new ‘critically endangered’ crafts added between March 2019 and May 2021. Finding solutions or strategies to slow down the pace of extinction has become increasingly critical for all heritage crafts. This paper considers some of the contextual and methodological issues of a practice-based doctoral research project that focuses on modern technologies and the endangered textile crafts and the culture associated with minority ethnic groups in China. The main objective of this research is to add a new dimension to traditional crafts by integrating new technologies such as electronic textiles to rejuvenate them. This paper explores the translation of aspects of traditional crafts into contemporary textiles through processes of replicating and prototyping. This strategy, based on the communication of textile knowledge is distinct from other approaches such as the use of handcraft techniques in haute couture or luxury product lines, it seeks to revitalise crafts by employing an unlearning process and acknowledging experiential knowledge through iterative, hands-on textile prototyping processes to create more contemporary modes of textile expression, rather than product applications. A selection of prototypes, including experiments with traditional weaving and embroidery techniques, as well as the use of these techniques in developing e-textile experiments, will be discussed. This practice-driven research encourages creative risk-taking, happy accidents, and improvisation by experimenting with traditional stitch structures, ancient and new yarns and unfamiliar e-textile components and processes. This paper reflects on diverse prototyping processes and shares insights from a collaborative process with experts from various disciplines. It explores how modern technologies, contemporary materials, and traditional handicraft processes can be cohesively combined to produce interactive e textile narratives through material understanding and making processes.