Humanitarian handicrafts: In conversation

This conversation between an artist, historians, a textile curator and a practitioner in socially engaged textiles reflects upon our experience of organising a conference engaging with the histories of humanitarian handicrafts alongside an exhibition of contemporary work by socially engaged textile practitioners. In this dialogue we probe the relationship between the two disciplines of history and craft practice. How might a sensory experience of the making process inform the way we look at archival material, and how does an understanding of past projects help to contextualise and shape approaches to contemporary practice? Where do the different approaches collide? Are there connections with recent conversations within the museums and heritage sector about the widening of the narrative around objects and places to reframe the way history is represented? In which case, where do the voices of the people whom these humanitarian projects support lie in this research? In this conversation, we also bring the question of value to bear in terms of the value of people, labour and skills, but also how those link with the value of the products and how they are consumed.