>[!NOTE]+ Meta Author:: [[Sharon Tsang-de Lyster]] Reference:: https://garlandmag.com/loop/displacement/ Date:: [[2021-11-24]] Tags:: #warp/talk WeftLinks:: [[Economic value of craft]] [[Social value of craft]] [[Reinventing the Wheel]] [[Peace and justice value of craft]], [[Migrant and refugee value of craft]] ### Summary Sharon Tsang-de Lyster is a design anthropologist specialising in heritage textiles. In recent years, she has built up wonderful online resources such as Narrative Made and the Textile Atlas that document world crafts and their stories. Sharon completed a masters at SOAS University of London and has been an active member of the Knowledge House for Craft. You can read her fascinating article "Jianfu Palace Garden restoration" in the Ancient Now issue of Garland. She presented a timely paper, "Crafts enterprises as empowerment for refugees and displaced people". It could be argued that our understanding of the crafts is based on a notion of culture inherited from German romanticism, that traditions spring from the soil. From this perspective, the situation of a refugee craftsperson who moves to a foreign land seems to compromise that authenticity. Yet, refugees are not a purely modern phenomenon. And craftspersons have moved for other reasons, such as opportunities in courts such as Tipu Sultan's in India that recruited artisans from across the world. So with Sharon's talk, we have a chance to consider how craft assists in the transition to a new country, what kinds of craft tend to be practiced by displaced people, and whether something new emerges that makes a contribution to the field. Sharon described a number of platforms for refugee craft across the world. This included not only the continuation of crafts that were practiced before displacement, but new crafts that were developed in refugee camps. The benefits were multiple, including not only economic but also well-being for the refugees. Handmade dolls were often associated with business initiatives. In the discussion, there was concern about the negative perceptions of refugees as potential competitors for local craft labour. There were also policy problems, such as in Hong Kong where it is not permitted to pay refugees for their work. This is an issue that the World Crafts Council could take up. ![[Displace Craft presentation smaller.pdf]] <div style="display: block; position: relative; width: 100%; height: 0px; --aspect-ratio:9/16; padding-bottom: calc(var(--aspect-ratio) * 100%);"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.be/embed/OLKXjtkUJEQ" allow="fullscreen" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; height: 100%; width: 100%;"></iframe></div>