Decorating Dissidence is an interdisciplinary project exploring the political, aesthetic & conceptual qualities of craft from modernism to the contemporary.
Co-founded by Jade French and Lottie Whalen in 2017, Decorating Dissidence brings together art practitioners, makers, curators, activists and academics to break down disciplinary boundaries and find new ways to critically engage with craft history. It opens up a space for dialogue between contemporary and modernist makers, in order to reveal the lasting legacies of marginalised artists who worked at the dissident intersections between established mediums and modes of modern art.
OUR PROJECTS
In 2022-2023, we launched the first series of The Decorating Dissidence Podcast, interviewing craftspeople and makers, as well as offering the platform to collaborators. We also launched our Substack newsletter, where we bring all things craft, making and decorative art straight to your inbox!
In 2021-2022, we worked with Dr Aoife Monks (Queen Mary, University of London) and makers in our network to document experiences of making during the Covid-19 pandemic, hosting a symposium on histories of making during crises. On the ground, makers had to respond in real-time to an ever-changing situation. We asked five artists – Sarah-Joy Ford, Raisa Kabir, Bisila Noha and collaborators Lucy McCormick and Morven Mulgrew – to take us through their process of making and how it had changed. We also commissioned three makers to take us through their journey – from first steps to finished product – to inspire others to follow along. These included weaving with Rezia Wahid, MBE, upcycling with Ophelia Dos Santos and leather making with Yusuf Osman.
2020 saw us pivot our month-long residency ‘Take Dada Seriously! It’s Worth It?‘ online, as part of Guest Projects digital residency. We designed a new website, commissioned new work from four artists, hosted three salons on the topics of digital dada, writing dada and deconstructing dada, featuring artists, writers, poets, makers and activists from the UK and US. The journal had two guest editors for the first time – Daniel Fountain, who edited Issue 8: Queer(ing) Craft and Polly Hember, who edited ‘Issue 12: Backstage Craft‘. We also began to record our new series of podcasts…
In 2019, we launched our blog, with each issue themed around a specific topic. We also hosted an exhibition inspired by the Bauhaus women’s weaving workshop and began our collaboration with curator Suzanna Petot. ‘WEAVE IT! 100 Years of Bauhaus’ at Stour Space brought together community groups, crafters, makers and artists to explore the concept of ‘weaving’ through textile, sound and structure…
In 2018, we also partnered with Being Human Festival and the V&A Museum of Childhood to host Motherhood & Making, a day of talks and workshops exploring creativity and motherhood. We also hosted a symposium – ‘Modernism: Making, Place, and Protest‘ – took place at QMUL in November 2018. Keying in to East London’s radical history as a site where creativity, feminism, and activism meet, it addressed questions such as: how might craft disrupt the gallery space? How can we make space for a feminist genealogy of art and craft, and what might that look like?
In 2017, we hosted ‘Decorating Dissidence: Feminism, Modernism and the Arts‘ and ‘Craft Protest‘ an exhibition, conference, and series of workshops at Mile End Arts Pavilion and Queen Mary University of London. These events intervened in contemporary, interdisciplinary debates concerning the boundaries of modernism and the direction of feminist modernist studies.
OUR LOGO
Our logo was designed by the brilliant Olivia Domingos, go commission her here.
decoratingdissidence.com 