CV
Sarah Emily Brown
Visual Artist, Researcher, Filmmaker
sarah@sarahemilybrown.co.uk
Education
From Reed-Weaving to Embroidery: An Investigation into Transitions of Craft Practice Among Craftswomen in Southeast Madagascar.
Projects
- 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
Craft livelihoods project for indigenous women. Taught embroidery skills on two week-long workshops during a wider programme of training.
Films
Film Festivals
Mahampy, Material of Life screened as a short film with director's message.
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
This is not a Book (group show)
Art of the Book (group show)
Courthouse Retrospective (multidisciplinary group show)
Poisson D'Avril (multidisciplinary group show)
Journey (featured artist)
Paperworks 3 (multidisciplinary group show)
A Tramp's Tools (solo show)
Bookbinding Showcase (solo show)
Objects of Desire (multidisciplinary group show)
Art of the Stitch (Embroiderers' Guild textile art show)
Miniatures (selected international book show)
Surface Open 2008 (selected open show)
New Designers One Year On (group show)
Manipulate (multidisciplinary group show)
LACi (group showcase)
364 Hours (solo show, Crafts Council New Faces)
Catapult (multidisciplinary group show)
84 Hours (solo show)
New Designers Selection (selected graduate show)
Society of Bookbinders Conference (invited exhibitor)
Mapping (multidisciplinary group show)
Making Craft Work (multidisciplinary group show)
Teaching
- Teaching seminars for History of Anthropology unit for undergraduates (2019)
- Guest lectures on visual methods for undergraduate social science students
Guest lecture on embroidery in Madagascar.
Guest lecture on Textiles and Sustainable Development.
- Lecturer, Foundation — responsibility for course fashion show and co-ordinating HE visiting lecturers programme (permanent post)
- Lecturer, BA Visual Communication (2010–2011)
Associate lecturer, Foundation.