Garland magazine

Ngozi Omeje is a ceramicist who teaches at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She has been directly influenced by the work of El Anatsui. She has exhibited overseas in exhibitions such as the Cheongju Craft Biennale, but continues to live in Nsukka. In our conversation, Ngozi discussed a particular method she uses to string ceramic shards from the ceiling to...

Kevin Murray interviews one of the key instigators in Melbourne's street jewellery scene, Melissa Cameron. How did Part B evolve? What does the name mean? What were its other projects? What is its enduring influence? For more details and images, see https://garlandmag.com/loop/steal-this/.

Pam Hall has extended her practice as an artist in Newfoundland to create an  Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge . The three chapters written so far feature the living crafts of Northern Penninsula and Bonn Bay, Fargo and Change Islands and Miawpukek Middle River. We invited Pam to share the story of his epic project. Read more: https://garlandmag.com/loop/pam-hall-the-encyclopedia-of-local-knowledge...

Urmila Mohan is an anthropologist who established the Jugaad Project, an open platform for publishing articles on material culture. Here are some of the topics covered in our conversation: The meaning of jugaad as everyday innovation The need for an open global platform to share articles in material culture How published articles benefit their subjects Prayer beads as spiritual technology that is...

We speak with Jennifer-Navva Milliken, director of the Museum of Art and Wood about a fascinating project inspired by the iconic lattice wooden screen of the Islamic world.

We speak with the curator of the magnificent exhibition Sutr Santati, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. This exhibition consists of 100 textile works representing an impressive range of techniques including Kutch embroidery, patola, brocades, sequin work, applique, block printing, silk tapestry and ikat.

Co-Obradoiro Galego is a collaborative project by three basketmakers and designer Paula Camiña, looking at biotechniques to help regenerate and revive Galician craft heritage. We speak with Paula about the origins of this project and how it stems from her own roots in the region. We learn about the impact of foresty monoculture and its impact on basketmakers. The use of a biopolymer fibre produced...

Hanne Brøbech Sønnichsen is the chairperson of Danish Crafts and Design. For the organisation's Formkraft publication, she recently wrote Greasy Fingers and Practical Research Help Craft Out of the Display Case which reflect on the student revolt against the lack of technical education in their craft program. "That the students see themselves more as practitioners of craft rather than cra...

We speak with Hillevi Skoglund about a Swedish project involving thousands of participants who each plant and process a plot of linen. See our website for more information. 

Our current issue, titled Know How: The Grammar of Making , features an article by Patrick Webb, titled Maker Mythologies Classical Origin Stories for the Crafts , which is a fascinating overview of the key role played by craft in the ancient understanding of the world as a divine creation. This is a taste of the rich offerings from his blog called Real Finishes, which I highly recommend. What int...

We interview Neke Moa to learn about being a custodian of pounamu and how she uses it to connect with atua as guiding spirits.  More info: https://garlandmag.com/loop/neke-moa-deities/

Glenn Adamson speaks about the new publication project, Material Intelligence . He reflects on how this project evolved from his return to the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee. Adamson describes the need in craft writing to keep in mind the publication as an object, in this case, a PDF which will become a book. In terms of readership, he aims to engage with a scientific community who are practica...

We speak with Jesse Adams Stein, the author of Industrial Craft in Australia: Oral Histories of Creativity & Survival (Palgrave Macmillan 2021) For more information, see our post: https://garlandmag.com/loop/jesse-adams-stein/ 

We interview Richard Ocejo, author of Masters of Craft: New Jobs in the Old Economy (2017). This intriguing book described a trend among white middle-class men in taking on manual trades. These included bartender, barber, butcher and distiller. We explore how this differentiates from the hipster figure as an ironic consumer and the complications of the term "master". Then we turn to the impact of...

Yuko Kikuchi, Professor of Craft History at Kanazawa College of Art, shares her professional journey beginning with the Beat Generation in California. Moving to England, she was introduced to the Arts and Crafts Movement, through which she re-discovered the Mingei folk craft movement of her home country, Japan. She reflects on the Western critic of Mingei as elitism by identifying its evolution in...

Hamza El Fasiki is a geometer, brass smith, bookbinder, Andalusian Oud musician, and founder of a Morocco arts studio. He offers an important perspective as a young person who has embraced the world of Moroccan traditional crafts. This gives him particular insight into the differences between modern and traditional worlds. Read more here . 

Kaamya Sharma is an academic who has recently turned knowledge worker for the crafts. We speak to her at home in Madurai, after leaving a secure position at the Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, and embracing an independent practice building technologies for artisans.  Kaamya is a talented writer and deep thinker who is able to see both sides of the story. We dwell on her research into the va...

We talk to Malika Verma about the origins of Border&Fall and the values that underpin the Śilpa series profiling Indian artisans. See Kanta Kadse ✿ Khajur ki pattiyo

In our series of interviews with key figures of the craft world, we talk to Anna Battista, an Italian writer whose Irenebrination has published nearly 3,000 stories of the world through an intelligent fashion lens. We learn what sustains such as committed independent voice.  Anna Battista is a writer, freelance journalist and independent scholar. Her articles about art, architecture, culture,...

Our first podcast of 2021 features one of the most innovative forces in Indian craft, reflecting Ahmedabad’s status as a unique cultural centre. We speak to Jay Thakkar on the eve of the legendary kite festival in Ahmedabad, and we begin by learning what the city is like during this spectacular event and how COVID has affected the themes of kite design. We discuss his ambitious project on vernacul...

Kuwaiti designer Laila Al Hamad speaks about the meaning of smell in Arab cultures and how it connects people together. One of the enduring themes of our journey is the meaning of ephemeral objects. We tend to see value in objects of lasting worth - as artefacts that survive millennia to rest in our museum shelves, or works that can be collected for their artistic value. But when we look at the ki...

We talk to Dylan Rogers about his discovery of the true significance of the garlands that feature in Pompeii murals. Pompeii offers a snapshot of Roman life in 79AD. It reveals the prevalence of murals, not just as decoration, but as instructions for living. As part of his investigation of "lived religion" in Roman times, archeologist Dylan Rogers uncovered the real purpose of these garlands. The...

Maikel Kuijpers an Assistant Professor of the Archaeology of Early Europe at Leiden University as well as a research coordinator for the Centre of Global Heritage and Development, a collaboration between Technical University Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Leiden University. Kuijpers is a key thinker in what has been called the "material turn", in which knowledge is seen not just as an ab...

Ashoke Chatterjee is an Indian craft leader. He was executive director of National Institute of Design (NID) from 1975-85, Senior Faculty Advisor for Design Management and Communication from 1985 to 1995, and Distinguished Fellow at NID from 1995 until retirement in 2001. In 1975, NID was invited to be involved with the Rural University, a new concept in education and rural development initiated b...

Our latest podcast interview with leading craft scholars includes Chandan Bose, whose study of naqqash artisans in Telangana reveals the rich social world of this narrative art form. There is a new generation of craft scholars who seek to work in partnership with artisans. Chandan Bose recently published book on patam art in Telangana is very much a conversation a naqqash artist, Vaikuntam. The bo...