I am a visual artist, researcher and filmmaker based in the UK. I explore and uncover stories of making, craftspeople and their experiences. At the heart of my practice is an interest in social dimensions of craft and a methodology that uses textile processes to develop thinking. I have an interdisciplinary background and am interested in continuing to work in the space between creative practice and academic research.
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About
Research
My research examines the relationship between visual culture, memory, and historical representation. I am particularly interested in how images and visual narratives shape collective memory and our understanding of historical events.
Read more →Artwork
Selected works exploring themes of labour, gender, and craft history through bookbinding and textile processes.
Read more →Films
Short documentary films exploring craft, community and cultural heritage in Madagascar.
Read more →CV
Sarah Emily Brown
Visual Artist, Researcher, Filmmaker
sarah@sarahemilybrown.co.uk
Education
PhD in Area and Development Studies
From Reed-Weaving to Embroidery: An Investigation into Transitions of Craft Practice Among Craftswomen in Southeast Madagascar.
MRes International Development (Distinction)
Graduate Diploma: Creative Business Development
BA (Hons) Embroidery (First Class Hons)
NCFE Craft Bookbinding
BA Design: Textiles
BTEC Diploma in Foundation Studies: Art and Design (Distinction with Commendation)
Projects
Stitch Sainte Luce Embroidery Project
- 2011 — Founded project in collaboration with community members, fundraised, collaborated with SEED Madagascar NGO (formerly ONG Azafady) to plan project
- 2012–2015 — Project coordinator. Planned and delivered embroidery, cooperative building and business training alongside local colleagues
- 2016–2019 — Project consultant. Part-time role supporting the embroidery cooperative to become independent
Embroidery Consultant
Craft livelihoods project for indigenous women. Taught embroidery skills on two week-long workshops during a wider programme of training.
Films
Mahampy, Material of Life
Gny Rary Tsihy Tsy Enganay (We're Not Leaving the Mat Weaving)
Film Festivals
Tokyo International Documentary Film Festival
Mahampy, Material of Life screened as a short film with director's message.
Film Geographies and Stitching Together Event
Mahampy, Material of Life screened as "Exploring Textiles as Research Method".
Publications
- Brown, S.E., 2020. To be ‘skilled’ or not to be ‘skilled’? A case study exploring the interaction of two crafts in anthropological fieldwork in Madagascar. Journal of Arts & Communities, 10(1-2), pp.53-66.
- Brown, S.E., 2019. The embeddedness of craft making and its implications for participatory design: A north–south case study. Making Futures Journal, 5.
- Brown, S.E., 2016. Stitch and Survival: Using Embroidery to Catalyse Women’s Economic and Social Empowerment. Embroidery: The Textile Art Magazine, January/February, pp. 40-45.
Conference Presentations
- 2024, Textile Society of America, Symposium ‘Shifts and Strands’, Gny rary tsihy tsy enganay (‘We’re not leaving the mat weaving’): Transitions of craft practice in southeast Madagascar.
- 2024, European Association of Social Anthropologists Conference, ‘Doing and Undoing with Anthropology’, Making research and researching making: Creative tools to analyse an experimental methodology developed with craftswomen in Madagascar.
Proceedings
- Brown, S.E., 2024, Gny rary tsihy tsy enganay (‘We’re not leaving the mat weaving’): Transitions of craft practice in southeast Madagascar. Textile Society of America, ‘Shifts and Strands’ Conference Proceedings.
- Brown, S., 2019. The embeddedness of craft making and its implications for participatory design: A north–south case study. Making Futures, 5.
Exhibitions
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, California
This is not a Book (group show)
Seager Grey Gallery, California
Art of the Book (group show)
The Courthouse, Otley
Courthouse Retrospective (multidisciplinary group show)
Sabo Koenji Shorin, Tokyo
Poisson D'Avril (multidisciplinary group show)
Sabo Koenji Shorin, Tokyo
Journey (featured artist)
Bury Art Gallery
Paperworks 3 (multidisciplinary group show)
Greenwich Picture House, London
A Tramp's Tools (solo show)
The Courthouse, Otley
Bookbinding Showcase (solo show)
Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk
Objects of Desire (multidisciplinary group show)
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery / Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld / Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest
Art of the Stitch (Embroiderers' Guild textile art show)
Sabo Koenji Shorin, Tokyo
Miniatures (selected international book show)
Surface Gallery, Nottingham
Surface Open 2008 (selected open show)
Business Design Centre, London
New Designers One Year On (group show)
Platform Gallery, Clitheroe
Manipulate (multidisciplinary group show)
Blackburn Art Gallery
LACi (group showcase)
Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London
364 Hours (solo show, Crafts Council New Faces)
Urbis, Manchester
Catapult (multidisciplinary group show)
An Tuireann, Portree, Isle of Skye
84 Hours (solo show)
Oxo Tower Wharf, London
New Designers Selection (selected graduate show)
University of York
Society of Bookbinders Conference (invited exhibitor)
Bury Art Gallery
Mapping (multidisciplinary group show)
Platform Gallery, Clitheroe
Making Craft Work (multidisciplinary group show)
Teaching
University of Bath
- Teaching seminars for History of Anthropology unit for undergraduates (2019)
- Guest lectures on visual methods for undergraduate social science students
Alston Hall College, Lancashire
Guest lecture on embroidery in Madagascar.
Leeds College of Art
Guest lecture on Textiles and Sustainable Development.
Leeds College of Art and Design
- Lecturer, Foundation — responsibility for course fashion show and co-ordinating HE visiting lecturers programme (permanent post)
- Lecturer, BA Visual Communication (2010–2011)
Manchester Metropolitan University
Associate lecturer, Foundation.
Contact
I welcome inquiries regarding research collaborations, exhibitions, screenings, and speaking engagements.
Get in Touch
Email: sarah@sarahemilybrown.co.uk
Phone:+44 (0) 7821 964888