Yesterday we welcomed a fantastic panel of experts to lead a discussion on fashion, art, archives, and everything in between; from the ethics and sustainability of fashion, through to the importance and challenges of maintaining archives and thoughts on interdisciplinary working.
Chaired by Tom Godfrey (Bonington Gallery Curator and curator of CJ), the panel included Naomi Braithwaite (Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design at NTU and custodian of the FashionMap Archive), Ruby Hoette (Designer and researcher and Programme Leader of MA Design: Expanded Practice at Goldsmiths University) and Caroline Stevenson (Curator, writer and lecturer and Head of Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion)
Thanks to all who attended and got involved in the conversation!
C/J is open until Saturday 18 May. If you haven’t already, be sure to drop by!
On the occasion of our current exhibition C/J by Chloé Maratta and Joanne Robertson, please join us for an in-conversation event exploring key themes raised by the exhibition.
The discussion will be chaired by Tom Godfrey (Bonington Gallery Curator and Curator of C/J) and will feature Naomi Braithwaite (Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design at NTU and custodian of the FashionMap Archive), Ruby Hoette (Designer and researcher and Programme Leader of MA Design: Expanded Practice at Goldsmiths University) and Caroline Stevenson (Curator, writer and lecturer and Head of Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion).
We’ll be exploring themes and attitudes relating to the roles of artists and designers within archives; inter/post-disciplinary practice; cultural hierarchies and archives in academia. The intention will be to make the conversation as open as possible and we welcome contributions from the audience throughout the event. Light refreshments will be provided.
Naomi Braithwaite is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design at NTU where she is part of the Fashion Management Marketing and Communication team. Her research draws from Material Culture to explore the intersections between clothing, shoes and identity. Naomi’s ‘Shoe and Tell’ project examining teenage identity through the lens of footwear, was featured at the Being Human Festival in 2017 and on Radio 4’s Thinking Allowed programme in November 2018.
Led by Naomi, FashionMap is a unique archive of garments and accessories which have been sourced from British High Street retailers since 2000. Naomi’s current research uses FashionMap to explore how a collection of high street garments can become a valuable archive for the future.
Ruby Hoette is a designer/researcher exploring fashion in context through the intersection of theory and practice. Seeking to expand what constitutes ‘fashion practice’, her approach proposes critical and experimental modes of engaging with and producing fashion by framing the garment as a unique artefact that carries traces of social, cultural and economic interactions and transactions. Ruby is a Lecturer in Design at Goldsmiths, University of London where she currently convenes the post-disciplinary programme MA Design Expanded Practice.
Caroline Stevenson is a London-based curator, writer and lecturer. She works closely with emerging and established practitioners and institutions to research and develop new projects and create space for experimentation, dialogue and exchange. She has produced projects and programmed events for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, V&A Museum, ICA, Arcade East, Tenderbooks, Kunstverein München, Onomatopee, Dutch Design Week and a range of temporary spaces.
Caroline’s research and curatorial work focuses on interdisciplinary practice and artist-led culture. She is co-founder of Modus, a platform for expanded fashion practice, and she publishes scholarly writing on art and design practices.
Caroline is Head of Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion where she co-runs the Visual Arts at LCF Research Hub and is a member of the Centre for Fashion Curation.