From Susan Noble, PhD candidate at TED:
TRIP ‘was an international symposium exploring the role and relevance of traditional ‘hand skills’ in contemporary textiles, and the value and status of craft process.’ It was organized by the Textile Research Group at the School of the Arts, Loughborough University , November 2011. The presentations were diverse in range and scope, exploring the key themes without digressing from the focus. A significant theme was the trace of the hand, the presence of the maker: ‘The hand-made has acquired a new value and respect in recent years’.
This was not at the exclusion of new technology but presenters explored working with technology though planned disruption to generate intended inconsistencies, to reference the hand-made. It was interesting to hear discussion of the value of handmade as a process beyond the outcome and the relationship of process to product, particularly evident in the presentations by Josephine Steed and Angharad Thomas. Emma Shercliff echoes this in her examination of ‘the experience of the maker’ and looked at craft from a different perspective to the Sennett model, which was referenced by other speakers.
An important part of the event, like so often, was the opportunity to mix with like-minded people, exchange ideas and information and feel both validated and ‘at home’ – TRIP presented a germane view of the value of craft, that positioned it’s status as an activity of far more worth than can be measured by outcome alone.
