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Re-making the World: Women, Humanitarian Agencies and Handicrafts Programmes

Project description

The role of humanitarian handicraft

During the First World War, humanitarian organisations saved the renowned Belgian lace industry, while simultaneously ensuring the wartime employment of Belgian lacemakers in German-occupied Belgium and among Belgian refugees in France, the Netherlands and the UK. They developed lace-aid schemes which were highly successful, bringing unprecedented publicity to this imperilled European tradition and employing more than 50 000 women. This lace became known as war lace, as its unique iconography often referred directly to the conflict. Through the example of war lace, the EU-funded ReMTW project aims to uncover overlooked origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations, while examining the prospect for female emancipation and artistic expression.

Objective

The First World War threatened to extinguish the renowned Belgian lace industry, cut off from both markets and raw materials. Thousands of female lacemakers would be left without an income. Humanitarian organisations stepped in, saved the country’s cultural heritage, and supported its workers by supplying materials and selling the finished fabrics. Their actions gave unprecedented publicity to the industry and employed more than 50.000 Belgian lacemakers. The produced lace became known as war lace, as its unique iconography sometimes referred directly to the conflict. Art historians and craft practitioners addressing war lace have concentrated on high-quality laces designed by recognised artists. Historians have tended to study food and medical aid programmes. Yet the history of such humanitarian handicraft programmes remains obscure. ReMTW fills this gap. It uncovers the overlooked origins for the preservation of cultural heritage by humanitarian organisations, while examining the prospect for female emancipation and artistic expression. Through a combination of archival, collection and practice-led inquiry, the project will lead to an innovative history of humanitarianism which encourages historians to attend to material object, and art historians and craft practitioners to engage with the historical processes and the production of embodied knowledge. During the fellowship, the ER will organise an international colloquium, submit 3 peer-reviewed articles, present 2 papers at international conferences and lead an interdisciplinary workshop with 3 site-specific iterations. This will enhance the ER’s skills and future employability prospects, by opening new training opportunities, furthering her ability to plan, organise, and develop her dissemination and public outreach competencies, and reinforcing her professional international networks of researchers and practitioners versed in history, art history and craft practice.

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 212 933,76
Address
QUEENSGATE
HD1 3DH HUDDERSFIELD
United Kingdom

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Region
Yorkshire and the Humber West Yorkshire Calderdale and Kirklees
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 212 933,76
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