Weaver’s tale: Designer modernises Peruvian craft

Sabrina Kraus López, who is completing the MA Materials Futures course, will present Made in Patacancha, a textiles collection in collaboration with traditional weavers from Patacancha, Peru. Working with local NGO Awamaki – whose work seeks to create economic opportunities for communities – López incorporated materials of traditional craft into her contemporary designs.

Her project explores ‘the loss in value and status of handcrafts in Peru due to the rapid growth of industrialisation’, she explains. ‘The aim is to embed new techniques into the traditional weaving of a remote Peruvian community to safeguard it from mechanisation.’

For more on the importance of maintaining but modernising craft, see Be Open founder, Yelena Baturina’s Opinion column and keep an eye on our Seed and Shows sections for more on graduate exhibitions.