Ruth Clifford
Lecturer on the Contextual Studies for Fashion Design and Communication at Liverpool School of Art.
Recently completed a PhD at Nottingham Trent University on design education for handloom weavers in India. An interdisciplinary study it drew upon material culture, design history, anthropology, development studies and education alongside ethnographic and case study research in Kutch, Gujarat and Maheshwar Madhya Pradesh.
The thesis concluded that design and business education strengthens capability and opportunity for artisans to fulfil their creative and career aspirations, set trends and be their own agents in social change. I propose an urgent need to change the broadly held perceptions of the handloom industry as skilled (and in some cases un-skilled) labour and realise its full creative potential with a view to the elevation, desirability and sustainability of craft livelihoods; as well as to re-centre the artisan in narratives and interventions within fashion, design and craft development.
BA Hons (2006) and an MA (2012) in Textiles from Manchester Metropolitan University. MA investigated innovation in ajrakh block printing in Kachchh district, Gujarat.
Awards:
- Textile Society Critical Writing Award in 2012, paper published in Text, vol. 40.
Pasold MA Grant
- Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in 2014 for preliminary field work in India before starting PhD
- Design History Society Student Travel Award to conduct filming with weavers in Kutch and Maheshwar
- Gilchrist Educational Trust award for fieldwork in India
Exhibitions
Craft in Fashion at the Public Exhibition Space, Liverpool John Moores University, 6th to 17th February, 2023
Digital version: https://express.adobe.com/page/9oxjKeQXqQN0h/
Convened a symposium on the topic on 2nd February 2023. See recorded version here: https://youtu.be/jJPuO0KVUo0
Film
- ‘Tana Bana: Weaving life into cloth’, a documentary film about handloom weaving in Kachchh. June 2021
Grants and Awards
- Karun Thakar/V&A fund for the study of Asian and African textiles and dress, to undertake slow fashion craft collaboration, September 2022
- Quality Research grant to undertake slow fashion craft collaboration and research, May 2022
- Design History Society Strategic Research Grant for attendance to College Art Association conference, February 2018
- Design History Society Student Travel Grant, February 2017 for conducting filming in India
- INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) UK Travel grant for fieldwork in India, 2016
- Santander Universities Global Travel Bursary, April 2016 for second PhD fieldwork phase
- Gilchrist Educational Grant, July 2015 for initial PhD fieldwork phase
- Textiles Society Critical Writing Award, February 2012
- Pasold Fund MA grant, 2011
Supervisors: Dr. Eiluned Edwards and Dr. Naomi Braithwaite
Recently completed a PhD at Nottingham Trent University on design education for handloom weavers in India. An interdisciplinary study it drew upon material culture, design history, anthropology, development studies and education alongside ethnographic and case study research in Kutch, Gujarat and Maheshwar Madhya Pradesh.
The thesis concluded that design and business education strengthens capability and opportunity for artisans to fulfil their creative and career aspirations, set trends and be their own agents in social change. I propose an urgent need to change the broadly held perceptions of the handloom industry as skilled (and in some cases un-skilled) labour and realise its full creative potential with a view to the elevation, desirability and sustainability of craft livelihoods; as well as to re-centre the artisan in narratives and interventions within fashion, design and craft development.
BA Hons (2006) and an MA (2012) in Textiles from Manchester Metropolitan University. MA investigated innovation in ajrakh block printing in Kachchh district, Gujarat.
Awards:
- Textile Society Critical Writing Award in 2012, paper published in Text, vol. 40.
Pasold MA Grant
- Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in 2014 for preliminary field work in India before starting PhD
- Design History Society Student Travel Award to conduct filming with weavers in Kutch and Maheshwar
- Gilchrist Educational Trust award for fieldwork in India
Exhibitions
Craft in Fashion at the Public Exhibition Space, Liverpool John Moores University, 6th to 17th February, 2023
Digital version: https://express.adobe.com/page/9oxjKeQXqQN0h/
Convened a symposium on the topic on 2nd February 2023. See recorded version here: https://youtu.be/jJPuO0KVUo0
Film
- ‘Tana Bana: Weaving life into cloth’, a documentary film about handloom weaving in Kachchh. June 2021
Grants and Awards
- Karun Thakar/V&A fund for the study of Asian and African textiles and dress, to undertake slow fashion craft collaboration, September 2022
- Quality Research grant to undertake slow fashion craft collaboration and research, May 2022
- Design History Society Strategic Research Grant for attendance to College Art Association conference, February 2018
- Design History Society Student Travel Grant, February 2017 for conducting filming in India
- INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) UK Travel grant for fieldwork in India, 2016
- Santander Universities Global Travel Bursary, April 2016 for second PhD fieldwork phase
- Gilchrist Educational Grant, July 2015 for initial PhD fieldwork phase
- Textiles Society Critical Writing Award, February 2012
- Pasold Fund MA grant, 2011
Supervisors: Dr. Eiluned Edwards and Dr. Naomi Braithwaite
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Papers by Ruth Clifford
http://ruthincraftcentre.org.uk/exhibitions/indian-threads-textile-inspirations/
THS is a recent initiative of WomenWeave, and teaches weavers from different parts of India business, design, IT and communication skills with a view to enabling them to start their own businesses and generate more sustainable livelihoods in their respective regions. Students also learn new weaving skills techniques, and are encouraged to weave fabrics with more complex textures, patterns and colours than what they are used to, based on WomenWeave’s success with such fabrics. The school is in its early stages and the curriculum is continuously being revised and adapted. My recent ethnographic fieldwork in Maheshwar and other weaving regions in India has involved capturing the experiences of some of the students and graduates of THS, as well as the faculty, directors and administrative staff, over the past three years. This article draws upon these experiences, while presenting some of the challenges the school is facing amidst a broad and lively debate on craft in India within the development, anthropological, design history and material culture discourses. I address a number of questions such as: How can traditional craft meet the needs of the high-end fashion industry? How is education impacting ‘artisan’ and ‘designer’ collaborations and challenging the definitions of these roles? Who owns traditional and other designs, and whose identity is expressed in the final product? It also explores how weavers are combining their traditional weaving skills gained in the home, along with institutionalized learning of business and design concepts; and to what extent education enables weavers to create products attuned to a contemporary market.
The handloom industry in India currently employs over 4 million people and continues to be an important part of the economy, social life and identity of traditional weaving communities all over India. Following a series of declines over the course of the last century, due to industrialisation and imitated imports flooding local markets amongst other factors, recent development initiatives are helping to position these crafts in high-end urban and international markets. A new approach to craft development has been design and business education for artisans
This research focuses on two case studies of education institutes, unique in India for providing long-term formal education for rural artisans: Somaiya Kala Vidya (SKV) in Kachchh, Gujarat, and the Handloom School in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. SKV is sensitive to local methods, scale of craft production and traditions. The Handloom School invites weavers from all over India via local NGOs. Both institutions aim to enable artisans to connect directly with high-end clients.
The research addresses a number of questions, including: how do educators and artisans balance local knowledge with contemporary design and business concepts? Who owns traditional and other designs? What is the value of handloom fabrics amongst both the weavers and the market?
This paper discuses the research to date and the approaches employed to analyse the effectiveness of these institutions in nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship in the handloom sector, and to what extent they enable artisans to design and make craft products attuned to the demands of the contemporary market.
Drafts by Ruth Clifford
http://ruthincraftcentre.org.uk/exhibitions/indian-threads-textile-inspirations/
THS is a recent initiative of WomenWeave, and teaches weavers from different parts of India business, design, IT and communication skills with a view to enabling them to start their own businesses and generate more sustainable livelihoods in their respective regions. Students also learn new weaving skills techniques, and are encouraged to weave fabrics with more complex textures, patterns and colours than what they are used to, based on WomenWeave’s success with such fabrics. The school is in its early stages and the curriculum is continuously being revised and adapted. My recent ethnographic fieldwork in Maheshwar and other weaving regions in India has involved capturing the experiences of some of the students and graduates of THS, as well as the faculty, directors and administrative staff, over the past three years. This article draws upon these experiences, while presenting some of the challenges the school is facing amidst a broad and lively debate on craft in India within the development, anthropological, design history and material culture discourses. I address a number of questions such as: How can traditional craft meet the needs of the high-end fashion industry? How is education impacting ‘artisan’ and ‘designer’ collaborations and challenging the definitions of these roles? Who owns traditional and other designs, and whose identity is expressed in the final product? It also explores how weavers are combining their traditional weaving skills gained in the home, along with institutionalized learning of business and design concepts; and to what extent education enables weavers to create products attuned to a contemporary market.
The handloom industry in India currently employs over 4 million people and continues to be an important part of the economy, social life and identity of traditional weaving communities all over India. Following a series of declines over the course of the last century, due to industrialisation and imitated imports flooding local markets amongst other factors, recent development initiatives are helping to position these crafts in high-end urban and international markets. A new approach to craft development has been design and business education for artisans
This research focuses on two case studies of education institutes, unique in India for providing long-term formal education for rural artisans: Somaiya Kala Vidya (SKV) in Kachchh, Gujarat, and the Handloom School in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. SKV is sensitive to local methods, scale of craft production and traditions. The Handloom School invites weavers from all over India via local NGOs. Both institutions aim to enable artisans to connect directly with high-end clients.
The research addresses a number of questions, including: how do educators and artisans balance local knowledge with contemporary design and business concepts? Who owns traditional and other designs? What is the value of handloom fabrics amongst both the weavers and the market?
This paper discuses the research to date and the approaches employed to analyse the effectiveness of these institutions in nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship in the handloom sector, and to what extent they enable artisans to design and make craft products attuned to the demands of the contemporary market.