Loom Orientation – Researching material value through craft and storytelling

“People are thought to walk forward into the past and walk backward into the future, both taking place in the present, where the past and future are constantly mediated in the ever-transforming present”
Hūfanga ‘Okusitino Māhina

Can crafting and storytelling help to restore and reimagine material values? The project questions what objects are really made from by collecting stories of textile crafters, planetary health and wool fibres through material exploration. With the help from collaborators in Småland and Skåne I have used a loom as my object of orientation and researched a craft practiced by my grandmothers, exploring how or if past knowledge can be a drive for sustainable futures.

From meeting the sheep on the farm, washing wool in my student apartment and spinning thread with sticks, to making tools from egg-cutters, my body and a chair I researched ways to think differently about material values and material resources.

Through storytelling I am connecting threads of personal experiences, theory and insights from the design process, and have collected them into a zine.