TEXTILE TACTICS: SPECULATE DEBATE MAKE

Textile Tactics: Speculate, Debate, Make was a textiles future-focused panel discussion and bio-materials workshop developed to generate critical debate and practice that calls into action future design scenarios as we face urgent environmental challenges in the 21st century. We invited a panel of five key players: Dr Tricia Flanagan (UNSWAD), Dr Guy Keulemans (UNSWAD), Dr Melissa Knothe Tate (UNSW), Clara Vueltich, Gordon Renouf (Good On You) from the fashion, academic and science worlds to speculate and debate the next frontier of textile design. The key question driving the debate was: ‘What could textiles look like in the future as science, design and technology merge?’ The panel discussion was held at UNSW Art & Design as part of Sydney Design Festival 2018 to encourage fellow students of all levels and disciplines, academics and members of the public to attend. The event sold out with more than 100 people in attendance.

The program continued with a hands-on textiles lab lead by myself, Emma Peters and Hannah Young at UNSW Art & Design, where participants were called into action and introduced to a range of emergent bio-materials that have been ‘grown’ such as mycelium based textile composites, fermented microbial materials and bio-plastics. Participants were not only be able to see how these textiles have been made but were also able to generate hybridised experiments using the materials provided and a range of ‘traditional’ surface design techniques such as embroidery, beading, dying,weaving and piecing. Outcomes were playful, tactile, speculative, critical and open-ended, initiating making processes that pose questions about the future of textiles.

The Textile Tactics workshop was later run at MAAS Museum as part of the Reigning Men Public Program for MAASive Lates in June 2018.

Photography by Nick Keys

Video by Laura Pike