Past, Present and Future: Transformational Approaches to Utilising Archives for Research, Learning and Teaching

Textile design and manufacture is intrinsic to the economic, social and cultural history of Scotland. The decline of the British textile industry, primarily in the 20th century, due to cheaper imports, overseas manufacturing and consumer trends led to the demise of a number of companies in Scotland. However, within the remains, there exists a wealth of archival resources to provide insight into historical textile design trends, creative processes and manufacturing. This paper focuses on activity taking place at The Glasgow School of Art in which the past is examined to inform the present and therefore transform the creation of textile and textile-related products of the future. Three case studies are discussed, the first, Awaken examined the conceptual possibilities of reinterpreting archive material for contemporary fashion and textile related design work. Fourteen creative practitioners participated and utilised the Archives & Collections Centre at The Glasgow School of Art for inspirational purposes. An array of archival material was examined with various textile and related outcomes produced. Creative process journals were used for data collection and to explicate individual ways of working. Awaken culminated in an exhibition, publication, seminar and student project. A further case study, Classic Textiles describes the work of the Centre for Advanced Textiles (CAT), at The Glasgow School of Art. CAT exists as a facility for digital textile printing production, learning, teaching, knowledge exchange and research. Classic Textiles was established to recreate accurately 20th century textile design classics using digital design and print technology. Archival and practice-based research informs the creation of digital representations of the designs of Lucienne Day, Robert Stewart, Sylvia Chalmers and Lana Mackinnon; a further project has centred on the adaptation of the textile designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Exploration in terms of scale and customisation has led to the creation of new products and the use of Classic Textiles as a learning and teaching resource. The final case study focuses on the Interwoven Connections project, which relates to the carpet manufacturing innovators comprising the name Stoddard Templeton. This project involves archival research and oral history interviews to ascertain the workings of the design studio, carpet and textile design processes and the use of inspirational design library material in the creative process. As with the other case study examples, this project has resulted in an array of outputs and dissemination activities to ensure that the past informs the present in order to enhance the future. The paper concludes by describing how each of the case studies have evidenced reproductive, adaptive and transformative approaches to working with archival resources to shift the shape of future textile design practice and research. Proposals will recommend how these approaches can be used to formulate forthcoming research, creative practice, learning and teaching strategies