MA Textile Culture
The Textile Culture MA at Norwich School of Art and Design began in 2001. The Course enables both full and part-time students to develop a wide range of textile interests, enthusiasm and skills through research and application. This can take a variety of forms from studio and exhibition practice through to curating exhibitions, writing dissertations or working in the community. Students work to their strengths, usually beginning with a proposal of intent which is then challenged through reflection and research. Applicants represent local, national and, increasingly, international origins, thus contributing a varied experience of textile culture.
Research and Reflection
One of the exciting aspects of the Textile Culture MA is the diversity of approaches and outcomes. Students arrive with a range of first degree subjects or equivalent experience, and with a passion for engaging in some aspect of textile-related research and practice. Of course undergraduate art and design courses are an obvious starting point, but we have also had students with backgrounds in journalism, anthropology, zoology and drama, for example. The rich platform of textile knowledge shared by the students, combined with the challenges of rigorous research and critical reflection, result in a really strong group dynamic. Amongst the taught units, Tradition and Reinvention often results in a palpable shift of emphasis in the students’ work. Even professional aspirations can be transformed, thus journalists become artists, artists become educators, makers become designers; many students emerge with the confidence to organize events and to coordinate the textile activities of others and well as to advance their own practice. The course at Norwich lends itself to intelligent interdisciplinary practice. It is great to see the way that its significance is being noticed nationally and beyond.
Challenge and creativity
One of the really exciting developments in textile practice is the way in which state of the art technology has inspired new challenges. Many students have taken advantage of the opportunities that exist here to develop web-sites, digital designs, computer-aided print, stitch or weave, and video work. Such opportunities bring fresh vitality as well as challenge. Whereas a few years ago the textile community was relatively enclosed, nowadays there is much more interaction with other disciplines. It has moved from being on the edge of visual practice to being, in some indefinable but rewarding way, at the centre, which can’t be bad!
Moving on
Students from the course have gone on to receive national and international attention. A number have gone on to work in schools, Further and Higher Education, museums, galleries and the community. Others have succeeded in establishing their practice within the applied arts, design and the Fine arts. A number of students have developed an interest in the textiles of Norwich as a result of the course, and have helped to raise national awareness of the textile culture of Norwich.
Visit the MA Textile Culture web pages
