An anthropology of gestures: shifting narratives about sustainability in textile crafts through the lens of metaphor theory - Ruxandra Lupu

There is almost a poetic appeal to crafts that render them timeless. Crafts such as textiles maintain continuity, in contrast to trends, like fashion. Textile practice provides thus established codes for interpreting local culture. In doing so, they inhabit their environment in a caring and conscious way. That’s why it should come as no surprise that craftspeople think differently about sustainability than designers or managers. Their practices are deeply embedded in the territory and strongly connected to aspects of place, materiality and social context. At the same time, a large part of this knowledge about sustainability is tacit – this means it can be hardly articulated using language. It is rather embedded in gestures of working with and through materials, aspects which are difficult to understand, measure and capture. So, what can we learn  ...