We are delighted to announce that the symposium will be opened by Professor Magdalene Odundo, Chancellor of the University for the Creative Arts. In the 21st century technology has established an extraordinary relationship with the body: its crafting and its representation. Textiles, metals, and ceramics are used to replace interior body parts, while fibres can ‘read’ our most intimate details, acting as diagnostic tools. How does this affect the ways we construct our identity, process information about our bodies, move those bodies through space? The conference asks if craft knowledge and haptic understanding have roles to play in this debate. How can craft reflect on the body as a means of literal and poetic understanding of ourselves, our narratives and histories, hopes and concerns?
Opening Keynote Presentation will be given by Catherine Harper, Professor of Textiles and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Chichester. Editor-in-Chief of the Routledge journal TEXTILE: Cloth & Culture, she is also editor of and contributor to the four-volume Textiles: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury 2012) and author of a monograph,Intersex (Berg, 2007). She has published several chapters and scholarly articles, most recently in O’Brien and Moran’sLove Objects and Millar and Kettle's Erotic Cloth; also Taylor & Francis’ Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture.
Closing Keynote Presentation will be given by David Jones, representative for the UK, Ireland and Benelux on the global council of the International Academy of Ceramics. He is a Fellow of the Crafts Potter Association of the UK. He received his PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University; he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Warwick, graduating in Philosophy and Literature; this was where he was first introduced to pottery. He subsequently taught ceramics for thirty years at the University of Wolverhampton. He has contextualised his own making in two books addressing the nature of fire: Raku - Investigations into Fire (1999) and Firing - Philosophies within Contemporary Ceramic Practice (2007), both published by Crowood Press.
SYMPOSIUM: 10.30am - 4.30pm
TICKETS: £10.00 - includes refreshments.
Advanced booking is essential and can be made in person, by calling 01252 891450 or emailing: craftscentre@uca.ac.uk
Please note lunch is not provided but the UCA cafeteria, Waitrose and cafes are all close to hand.
