Supporting makers together

Image: Peruvian fibre artist, Timoteo Ccarita Sacaca

The current global pandemic has changed the way we live, at least temporarily. As we focus on our personal health, isolation has become the new normal. This makes our communities more vulnerable than ever. Unless we find creative means to engage with the wider world and stay connected with each other, the coming months will be increasingly lonely.

Image: Peruvian fibre artist, Timoteo Ccarita Sacaca

We need beauty and lightness amidst the anxiety of the rolling news, and Selvedge will play its part by promoting makers of handmade textiles through engaging storytelling. Many of the traditions and textiles that we bring to you are fragile. There is a real danger that during this time of crisis many makers will struggle to support themselves, and skills that hold culture and heritage will be lost forever.

Image: Rupa Trivedi, Adiv Pure Nature

Image: Dosa x Adiv collaboration.

Here at Selvedge, we feel that it has become more important than ever to support the work of makers who are in danger of being among the hardest hit economically. The products of their labour so enrich all our lives, and particularly now, their creative expression is a tonic for us all.

With these issues in mind, the magazine will over the next year focus thematically on the work of the makers of handmade textiles and communities in need, both in print and in our online presence: individual makers whose livelihoods are threatened, and communities both near and far struggling for survival because of their isolation, the effects of the economic downturn or those devastated by the pandemic.

Images: Siju Shamji Vishram, toothpicnations.co.uk.

The Selvedge World Fair in London will bring personal stories of makers, their work and the cultural heritage of their communities, to the attention of a wider audience. Should the current ban on mass gatherings continue through the summer, Selvedge will move from what is now intended as a physical event to a virtual World Fair whereby makers and attendees will engage through online, social media and e-commerce platforms. Our efforts may present new challenges, but we are determined to do all we can to strengthen our community of textile makers and lovers.

We ask for your support during these times...

Best wishes,

Polly Leonard, Founder.