Heritage as a Creative Future: The Story Behind Garments (Part 2)

Part. 2: Retrospective

In conversation with Prof. Alison Harley

Design educationalist and author, Alison Harley has worked in art and design as Head of the School of Design, Glasgow School of Art (2000 - 2005); Dean of the Faculty of Design at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore (2005 - 2008); Professor and Head of School, Textiles and Design, (2008 - 2013) and Creative Director, Textiles and Design, Heriot-Watt University (2013 - 2016). Since 2016 she has worked as an independent researcher, curator and writer, developing her particular interest in creative practice and material culture through her international collaborations with designers and artists, for publication and exhibition. Alison is the Founding Trustee of the Bernat Klein Foundation and one of four creatives in The Textile Collective. Alison studied textile design at Glasgow School of Art and also holds an MLITT in Dress & Textile Histories from the University of Glasgow.

Collecting individual narratives of the maker and their creative process is core to research undertaken by Alison Harley. Through a series of case studies, Alison will present her methodology and the curation of oral memories: Bernat Klein (1922 - 2014) and his design and textile activity in the Scottish Borders of the 1960s; interpreting the design process of Marthe Armitage (b.1930), artist and patternmaker; telling the story of one family through their personal collection of the kimono, presented in the exhibition 'Kimono: a portrait of a Japanese Family' (House of an Art Lover, 2019).