Textile Workshop Experience

    Textile Workshop Experience

    Fashion is one of the most productive and most productive and money maker industries in today's world. On the other hand, as other business do, governance of textile companies prefer to hire Chinese  factories produce the products for themselves. It seems that is fat agreement for companies and factories and it compensates the demands of consumer.

   Thanks to the '' Amplification Project '' in Goldsmiths University MA Expanded Practices,as part of the process, students participated the weaving workshop. The goal of the workshop is transform the reality of consumer to citizen, assisting them to uptake by teaching ''knitting'' ( basically amplifying the students). A lecturer in the Design Department and a PhD candidate, and a textiles specialist Rose Sinclair moderated the workshop. The aim of the project was the link between memories and making and being shown how to make and making in communities and amongst various communities of makers e.g knitting communities as you discussed with me about your knitting communities. 

   I would like to analyze the process in 3 parts:

1) What is the story behind knitting
3) What the workshop left the students behind: Questions.

  Before i start the first stage of the development stage of the text, i would like to mentioning about Rose Sinclair. The subject of Rose Sinclair' s PhD is the history behind knitwear and fabrics that black women did in United Kingdom.These women crafted their suffer from racism, poverty, family issues, etc... These elements made those patterns and women very unique for the history of United Kingdom. To give importance to keep a culture, doing research about it fascinate me. The reason is, as a Turkish citizen, i am very familiar with
narratives of crafted objects. One of the most interesting example is, a tradition from late Ottoman Era between early Turkish Republic, women knit socks for people they love. Especially, if there is an impossible love , woman knit her love to socks so she can hide it from everyone. Women still knitting socks by inspiring from their daily
life and sell them in markets in Anatolia. My personal opinion, they are people who have done their art away
from the eye. Rose demanded us to knit some patterns based on our personal memories, so we can reach the awareness that our memories, the time we spend for something/someone make everything worthwhile. The amplified students care their works more than the other fabrics that they would buy. The all objects are unique and precious that erase the social class or hierarchy. There is nothing to consume anymore. In other words, students amplified to be citizen.

  As designers, after the workshop, we must ask questions to progress this experience. One of my questions is how we can amplify knitting techniques with communities. By technological developments and the creativity of communities, we can reach better results. According to Miss Sinclair, this workshop is performed with particular location, refugees, homeless, immigrants...etc. However, to evaluate the system for better, sustainable version,
we also consider the consumers. we amplification project  may hack mass production that release low-cost, 
non-recyclable/recyclable materials  that gathered by unethical way.  We can create  a sustainable and low-cost shopping experience with well-known brands by knitting amplification project.