Dr Emma Shercliff
Associate Professor of Textiles and Participatory Making, Associate Director of the Graduate School (Research), Course Tutor (MRes Arts)PhD, BA(Hons), FHEAOverview
Dr Emma Shercliff is Associate Professor of Textiles and Participatory Making. Emma has responsibility for teaching textile practices and contexts on the BA (Hons) Textiles course as well as co-ordinating the MRes Arts (Master of Research) and supervising PhD students. With over 20 years’ experience devising, participating in and leading creative workshops with various participants she has developed a focus on creative participatory research methodologies and participatory approaches to design, making and cultural engagement applicable to wider cross- and interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange and consultancy settings.
Emma’s specialist practical and design experience is in stitched textiles, stretching from bespoke tailoring through the hand crafts of embroidery, plain sewing, braiding, patchwork and quilting, to manipulated textile surfaces and constructions, including the production of unique prototypes. Emma joined AUB in 2009. Prior to a career in academia Emma worked in Paris from 1995-2006 as a freelance textile designer and maker on design briefs for embroidery, print and knitwear; in textile and fashion forecasting for trend agencies; and for Premiere Vision, the international textile trade fair. She also worked for a number of years with cross-disciplinary teams on the production of installation works and prototypes for internationally renowned artist, Lucy Orta; collaborated with colleagues on the development of creative ideation workshops for design professionals; and led participatory community arts projects encouraging inter-generational communication and creative exchange. She has exhibited in France and the UK, but also has works in homes, community centres and other people’s memories.
She coordinates the Stitching Together research network (funded by the AHRC from 2019-2021), which brings together researchers, professional textile practitioners, project commissioners and enthusiast textile maker groups to foster critical dialogue around participatory textile making in research and practice. Current research addresses the development of community owned work-flow systems for the making of life-saving buoyancy aids in Zanzibar using a participatory workshop-based methodology with tailors.
Emma’s key publications can be found in the AUBREI repository. In addition to publications, conference papers, talks and presentations, Emma is a peer reviewer for various academic journals and co-edits the Journal of Arts and Communities. Emma welcomes invitations for collaborative research projects and is interested in receiving applications from students who wish to undertake PhD study.
Qualifications
Qualifications
- 2015 PhD (Royal College of Art)
- 1995 BA(Hons) Textiles and Fashion Design (Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education)
Teaching Qualification
- 2017 Supervising Postgraduate Research (SEDA)
- 2015 Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
Teaching
Emma leads the core studio practice units at level 4 for the BA(Hons) Textiles course, embedding fundamental textile design and making methodologies. She also leads the Investigative Study unit at level 6 consolidating contextual frameworks and subject-appropriate research methods for studying textiles and textile practices.
On the MRes Arts course, Emma leads research methods workshops and supervises student research projects. She also supervises PhD students.
Emma joined AUB in 2009. She has over 20 years experience teaching in Higher Education as a lecturer, visiting tutor, workshop leader and guest speaker at various institutions in the UK and Europe (University College Falmouth; Goldsmiths College, University of London; Royal College of Art, London; ESMOD, Paris; Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Paris Fashion Institute, Paris; L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; Kingston University; Kent Institute of Art and Design).
Research
Research Interests and Projects
Emma’s research interests are centred around textiles and participatory making:
- textile craft practices, particularly stitched textiles
- textile craft traditions and transitions
- expressions of identity and place through textile practices
- relationships between literary metaphor, language and creative textile practices
- participatory and social making or design practices
- amateur enthusiast and everyday craft practices
- gender and power dynamics in/of craft and design practices
- the learning and transmission of hand skills
- creative and participatory research methodologies
Emma studied for a PhD at the Royal College of Art from 2006-2014. Her thesis, titled Articulating Stitch: skilful hand-stitching as personal, social and cultural experience explored the making of stitched textiles in social contexts. In 2014 she was awarded a Research Fellowship at the Arts University Bournemouth to examine the development and use of participatory textile making workshops as creative research methods.
Emma coordinates the Stitching Together research network (funded by the AHRC from 2019-2021), which brings together researchers, professional textile practitioners, project commissioners and enthusiast textile maker groups to foster critical dialogue around participatory textile making in research and practice. Major outputs include a double volume special issue of the Journal of Arts and Communities, and the Stitching Together Good Practice Guidelines.
From an initial focus on participatory textile making Emma’s interests extend to participatory approaches to design, making and cultural engagement applicable to wider cross- and interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange and consultancy settings. She is currently leading research into the development of community owned work-flow systems for the making of life-saving buoyancy aids in Zanzibar using a participatory workshop-based methodology with tailors.
Emma’s key publications can be found in the AUBREI repository. In addition to publications, conference papers, talks and presentations, Emma is a peer reviewer for various academic journals and co-edits the Journal of Arts and Communities.
Research Supervision
Emma currently co-supervises three PhD students and has examined two PhDs:
- Co-supervisor: Rachel Jackson (at AUB) “A Practice Based Methodology for Narrating the Past in Collections of Textiles and Dress” (2017-2023)
- Co-supervisor: Justine Moss (at AUB) “Discarded Garments in Motion: Exploring Female Affect in Narrative Film Through a Contemporary Drawing Practice” (2018-2023)
- Co-supervisor: Sarah Brown (at Bath University) “From Weaving to Embroidery: A multimodal inquiry into the changing craft methodologies of Malagasy women” (2017-2022)
- External examiner: University of Huddersfield (2021)
- External examiner: Edinburgh University (2021)
Emma is interested in receiving applications from students who wish to undertake PhD study in these areas:
textile craft and design practices, particularly stitched textiles; participatory and social making or design practices; gender and power dynamics in/of craft and design practices; relationships between literary metaphor, language and creative textile practices; the learning and transmission of hand skills; creative and participatory research methodologies
Professional Engagement
Seminars, guest posts, workshops, panels, talks & events, community arts workshops and public engagement initiatives:
- 2021 Stitching Together Study Day event: organisation and chairing of presenters (academic, practitioner and non-academic) [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2021 Guest blog post for the ArtWorks Alliance website: “Historical parallels and contemporary considerations” [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2021 Case study post for Engage website: “Stitching Together: Good Practice Guidelines” [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2020 Guest blog post for the Social Research Association (SRA) website: “Stitching Together: Making textiles with others as a means of research” [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2020 Video conversation for the National Centre for Research Methods: “In Conversation with Stitching Together and Sophie Woodward; Material methods 2” [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2020 Creative methods Twitter chat hosted by Dr Helen Kara [online]. (With Co-investigator Amy Twigger Holroyd).
- 2016 Invited to “Hack the Smock”: participatory research workshop for AHRC funded Design Routes project, Leeds University.
- 2015 “Things That Matter: Emotional Intelligence in Research”, cross-disciplinary research methods workshop, Royal College of Art, London.
- 2015 “Taking A Thread For A Walk”, Making Research – Researching Making, conference exhibition presentation, Arkitektskolen Aarhus, Denmark.
- 2014 “Our Collective House”, inter-generational stitching and drawing community workshops, Whittington Park Community, London, with support from Awards For All: The Big Lottery Fund.
- 2014 “Show Me Where You’re Going”, drawing workshops and exhibition, In-Between, Diep-haven performing arts festival, cross-channel ferries between Newhaven, UK and Dieppe, France.
- 2012 Workshop co-leader for Translating: Pairing Practices, a workshop event for researchers organised in celebration of 10 years of Writing PAD (Writing Purposefully In Art and Design) with support from the HEA.
- 2011 “Sknitch” participatory stitch workshops for young people with Craftspace Collective, Clothes Show Live, Birmingham NEC.
- 2010 Panel member on themed discussion: Craft, Participatory Practice and Social Change at The Naughton Gallery, Queens University Belfast, in conjunction with August Craft Month Northern Ireland.
- 2010 Panel member on themed discussion: Amateur Making at Jerwood Space, London, in conjunction with the Jerwood Contemporary Makers exhibition.
- 2010 Talking, Walking, Making craft discussion residency organised by Artquest and Helen Carnac.
- 2010 Dialogues in Design themed seminar: Amateurism, Royal College of Art, London.
- 2006 “Roll Out the Red Carpet” Paroles de Femmes/Chemins Parcourus II, workshop and exhibition with local women’s group, La Régie du Quartier, Paris XI, France.
- 2005 “Les Pêcheuses” Le Temps d’une Marée, workshop and exhibition with local women’s group, Dieppe, Normandy, France.
- 2005 “Stairway to Heaven” Paroles de Femmes/Chemins Parcourus I: Etoilement, drop-in workshop and exhibition, La Maison des Métallos, Paris XI, France.
Awards and Prizes
Notable awards/prizes
Grants
- 2021 Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF): “Investigating knowledge exchange through participatory practice: a case study in the development of drowning prevention tools alongside makers in Zanzibar”.
- 2018 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): research networking grant: “Stitching Together” (2019- 2021).
Awards
- 2014 Arts University Bournemouth: Research Fellowship award.
Memberships
Advance HE Membership
- Fellow (FHEA)
Professional Memberships
- ArtWorks Alliance
- Engage – National Association for Gallery Education
- The Textile Society