The Textile Society Student Bursary Winners
Two School of Art Students Win Prizes
Postgraduate Student AwardMA Textiles student Hannah Leighton Boyce has won the Postgraduate Student Award for her project 'Mapping Ackworth School'.
Her project involved collecting narratives of attendances at the school, and then recorded these memories by stitching them in black and white into cloth, in much the same way that an archaeologist would chart and layer site excavations on paper. The purpose of archaeology is understood as the study of past societies and human development, and thus the judges made connections with the work of textile conservators, historians and makers, to recognise that Hannah is contributing to social and historic record by enabling memories ‘to speak for themselves’ through the use of thread and stitch.
Critcal Writing Award
Ruth Clifford, who recently completed her MA by Research at the School of Art has won the Textile Society Critical Writing Award. The award recognises Ruth's paper which showed the development of the traditional ajrakh block printing in India for contemporary markets. She used an anthropological approach to show how in a rapidly changing country, which is growing economically, the artisans were applying their craft. The judges were particularly impressed with her use of new primary sources, which she had gathered through going to India. Ruth’s findings also showed that because of improved educational facilities, the artisans were growing in confidence and producing new and exciting designs to suit the contemporary markets. The Textile Society Critical Writing Award will go towards further research in India allowing her to build a rich collection of data.
25 April 2012
