Rag Manifesto: Making, Folklore and Community by Rachael Matthews
It’s time to reconsider the value of our waste. In the past these were valuable commodities you could sell on. Gathering rag and turning it into yarn was rich in the possibility of making things. This Manifesto is a unique, artist’s view of the traditional art of rag rug making for this age of the Anthropocene. Projects made in the artist’s studio and with a community group, highlight a reverence for our lost textiles, a response to the environmental impact of fast fashion and a proof that rag is a rich resource, wrongly classed as a taboo material.
In ‘Rag Manifesto’ Rachael Matthews gives us permission to cut up our old fabrics offering a support structure for decision making and a chart on how to make liberating decisions about destroying a garment – be it ‘Worn Out Emotional’, or ‘Brand New and Guilty’ – and how our actions can develop community as well as our own self-esteem.
Mindful of our impact on the environment, we have been researching new ways to reduce our environmental impact, using local suppliers and printers where possible, sourcing recyclable packaging and recently using a cellulose lamination process for book finishing that is fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. Our most recent book has no lamination or coatings at all. This means the book may end up looking 'well thumbed' but then it is about damage.
‘This special book deals with the urgent need to find ways of relating with textiles that, instead of contributing to social injustice and environmental degradation, actively contribute to the world. Stories change the future. The stories in this book are already changing things. They are about caring and repairing our places and communities with imagination, action and each other.’ Professor Kate Fletcher, Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation
It’s time to reconsider the value of our waste. In the past these were valuable commodities you could sell on. Gathering rag and turning it into yarn was rich in the possibility of making things. This Manifesto is a unique, artist’s view of the traditional art of rag rug making for this age of the Anthropocene. Projects made in the artist’s studio and with a community group, highlight a reverence for our lost textiles, a response to the environmental impact of fast fashion and a proof that rag is a rich resource, wrongly classed as a taboo material.
In ‘Rag Manifesto’ Rachael Matthews gives us permission to cut up our old fabrics offering a support structure for decision making and a chart on how to make liberating decisions about destroying a garment – be it ‘Worn Out Emotional’, or ‘Brand New and Guilty’ – and how our actions can develop community as well as our own self-esteem.
Mindful of our impact on the environment, we have been researching new ways to reduce our environmental impact, using local suppliers and printers where possible, sourcing recyclable packaging and recently using a cellulose lamination process for book finishing that is fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. Our most recent book has no lamination or coatings at all. This means the book may end up looking 'well thumbed' but then it is about damage.
‘This special book deals with the urgent need to find ways of relating with textiles that, instead of contributing to social injustice and environmental degradation, actively contribute to the world. Stories change the future. The stories in this book are already changing things. They are about caring and repairing our places and communities with imagination, action and each other.’ Professor Kate Fletcher, Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation
It’s time to reconsider the value of our waste. In the past these were valuable commodities you could sell on. Gathering rag and turning it into yarn was rich in the possibility of making things. This Manifesto is a unique, artist’s view of the traditional art of rag rug making for this age of the Anthropocene. Projects made in the artist’s studio and with a community group, highlight a reverence for our lost textiles, a response to the environmental impact of fast fashion and a proof that rag is a rich resource, wrongly classed as a taboo material.
In ‘Rag Manifesto’ Rachael Matthews gives us permission to cut up our old fabrics offering a support structure for decision making and a chart on how to make liberating decisions about destroying a garment – be it ‘Worn Out Emotional’, or ‘Brand New and Guilty’ – and how our actions can develop community as well as our own self-esteem.
Mindful of our impact on the environment, we have been researching new ways to reduce our environmental impact, using local suppliers and printers where possible, sourcing recyclable packaging and recently using a cellulose lamination process for book finishing that is fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. Our most recent book has no lamination or coatings at all. This means the book may end up looking 'well thumbed' but then it is about damage.
‘This special book deals with the urgent need to find ways of relating with textiles that, instead of contributing to social injustice and environmental degradation, actively contribute to the world. Stories change the future. The stories in this book are already changing things. They are about caring and repairing our places and communities with imagination, action and each other.’ Professor Kate Fletcher, Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation