Listen to The Residency, our podcast series created in collaboration with Disegno, to discover the stories of six designers and craftspeople as they take part in our creative residencies across the globe, exploring the skills, ideas and identities behind their work. 

We’re excited to announce the launch of our podcast series The Residency in collaboration with Disegno, the Quarterly Journal of Design. 

We released six episodes; each the voice of a different practitioner, telling us about their experience of working internationally, their own practice and what they discovered through collaboration, creativity and research while on creative residencies.

From weaving in the Philippines to ceramics in China and steel in Japan. The designers featured took part in some of the international residency opportunities that we manage or support; the International Fashion Showcase, Crafting Futures and the Winston Churchill Fellowship. 

Listen to all the episodes on Disegno's website here.

Individual episodes

Episode 1
Fashion and Identity: Design and the British-Bangladeshi Experience
Rahemur Rahman, who was one of the designers selected for the International Fashion Showcase 2019, and who took part in a residency to develop business and creative skills in London alongside designers from 15 other countries.

Find out more about Rahemuir's installation for IFS here.

Episode 2
Smelting and Folklore: Ore to Steel from Ireland to Japan
Artist and blacksmith Katie Surridge, who went to Japan on her Winston Churchill Fellowship, explores traditional smelting techniques in Ireland and Japan, taking listeners on a journey through the processes and folklore associated with metalworking.

Episode 3
Textiles and Linguistics: Script as Pattern in Kinshasa
Designer Jess Kilubukila, who was selected as one of our Crafting Futures Grantees last year and travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, tells us as about his research and project and explains the inspiration behind his use of the pan-African Mandombe script on traditional Kuba textiles in Kinshasa.

Episode 4
Ceramics and Community: Porcelain-Making in Jingdezhen
Researcher Xiaofang Zhan, who was selected as one of our Crafting Futures Grantees last year, visits Jingdezhen, the ceramic centre of China, and discusses the industrial changes the city and surrounding region have undergone in the late 20th century.  

Episode 5
Weaving and Memory: Backstrap Looms in the Philippines
Weaver Michelle Stephens and academic Rachel Kelly, Crafting Futures Grantees last year, explore the varied weaving practices found across the Philippines, and how to document the country’s local techniques and patterns for prosperity. 

Episode 6
Clothing and Globalisation: Autonomy and Molas in Panama
Alisa Ruzavina visits the Guna Yala province of Panama for her Crafting Future Grant to learn about Mola textiles and, through collaboration with local women, the ways in which fashion and craft can be made more sustainable in the context of a global economy.