Live crafts talks are a series of live webinars on Facebook Live aimed at supporting the future of craft, its practices and people in Azerbaijan. The sessions are delivered by the educators and artists from the Plymouth College of Art and are organised in partnership with the Republican Children and Youth Development Centre. The series are designed from an educational perspective and are ideal for craft and art teachers.
Crafting Futures is a programme which supports the future of craft, its practices and people. It aims to strengthen cultural identity by creating a greater understanding of craft within the sector, alongside new audiences and markets and improving the quality of creative practice.
Session schedule:
2 March, 15.00 - "Self-imposed parameters to enhance creativity" by Charlotte Warren
Limitless creative freedom can often have a negative impact on productivity. This talk explores the paradoxical effect of employing self imposed constructs, particularly around game playing to guide decision making and generate novel ideas. We will also explore the work of various artists and designers alongside examples of student experiments to highlight the importance of directing decision making.
Charlotte Warren is an award-winning printed textile designer and artist championing an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to textiles. She is a lecturer on both the BA Textile Design courses and the MA design programmes at Plymouth College of Art. Charlotte is undertaking research within the textile dyeing labs in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of textile dyes.
9 March, 15.00 - "Thinking through making: risk taking and problem solving in the studio" by Madalaine Blyth
Failure and success can be barriers to playful exploration and risk taking in the studio. This talk will discuss how educators can remove constraints around students' approaches to making and demonstrate techniques which can support students in taking the leap with their work and learning to celebrate failure in the pursuit of solutions.
Madalaine Blyth is an educator, artist and researcher whose current practice explores historical craft practices and material culture. She is Curriculum Manager for Art and the Foundation Diploma Course Leader at Plymouth College of Art. Madalaine is currently researching domestic textiles as social history artefacts in Jacobean Scotland. Madalaine has worked with projects exploring shared best practice in teaching, arts practice and creative thinking in Australia and the UK.
16 March, 15.00 - "Making a maker’s space: shaping a creative classroom" by Natalia Eernstman
In this talk Natalia will discuss the importance of creative making in education, and explore how teachers can shape their classroom as an artist studio that encourages creativity in their pupils. She will draw from a wide range of examples and engage participants to reflect on their own teaching environments.