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Stories behind what we make

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The stories behind what we make. Over a five year journey of the Indo-Pacific, we explore beautiful and thoughtful objects. What do these objects tell us about our world today? We see a striking revival of ancient traditions that re-orients us to the future.

10/31/2024

Ngozi Omeje ✿ For the love and joy of it

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 create larger forms. She sees this as a way to transcend the kiln’s size limits and deal with the regular threat of breakage that afflicts ceramics’ transport. The idea came to her when she watched people fishing. The result is quite emotional. Ngozi talks about the sensation of hugging one of her ceiling works as if picking up a baby and it smiling back to you. She describes the individual shards as like “leaves.” Each has been imprinted with the palm of her hand. The palm print resembles the veins on a leaf. For Ngozi, there is no audience to sustain her work in Nigeria. But rather than constantly waiting to be recognised internationally, she decided to make work for the love of it. “It calms my spirit”. Finally, she talks about the work of making traditional ceramic hives for bees that open up easily so that honey can be extracted without disturbing the colony. Follow @ngozichukwukaomeje See: https://garlandmag.com/ngozi-omeje/

30 min
04/04/2024

Steal This ✿ Melissa Cameron confesses to her role in a lawless jewellery gang

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/.

35 min
12/21/2023

Pamela Hall on the Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge

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/ https://encyclopediaoflocalknowledge.com/ https://pamhall.ca/

50 min
12/19/2023

Urmila Mohan on the Jugaad Project

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 only partly replaced by fidget spinners Articles on bamboo weaving in Java and the infrastructure of Durga Puja in India The new book publication https://www.thejugaadproject.pub http://www.urmilamohan.com/ https://www.thejugaadproject.pub/home/likhai-wood-carving

27 min
09/13/2023

The Mashrabiya Project at the Museum of Art and Wood

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.

33 min
07/12/2023

Lavina Baldota on Sutr Santati

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.

19 min
06/22/2023

Biopolymer fibre in basketry: An interview with Paula Camiña about Co-Obradoiro Galego

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 from seafood waste offers a circular path to help promote this traditional craft.

22 min
04/27/2023

Hand makes hand: Hanne Brøbech Sønnichsen on Danish craft education

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 craft artist (kunsthåndværkere) is perfectly fine. We must – and this also applies to us at DKoD (Danish Crafts & Design Association)- clear up the concepts and remember that ‘craft’ gives associations to handwork, whereas ‘kunsthåndværk’ signals that there is also a certain aesthetic ambition involved." "Artistic craft is something essential and valuable that we must pass on to the next generation. Otherwise, the basic know-how and foundation for Danish design will lose its shape." In this podcast, we learn of the background to this controversy, the specifically Danish understanding of craft, and also her opinions about craft education. Underlying this is her philosophy that "hand teaches hand" .

29 min

The stories behind what we make. Over a five year journey of the Indo-Pacific, we explore beautiful and thoughtful objects. What do these objects tell us about our world today? We see a striking revival of ancient traditions that re-orients us to the future.

Creator

Stories behind what we make
Years Active

2019 - 2024
Episodes

34
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Stories behind what we make
Show Website

Garland magazine