Members of TextileR consists with international scholars and researchers from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia who are working with SMEs, industry and community groups focussing on solving critical sustainability issues faced by the textile and fashion industries globally (https://research.qut.edu.au/textiler/). TextileR conduct monthly seminars and meetups on research findings strengthening knowledge of its multi-disciplinary membership.
They seek to develop the cultural, technical, business, and social change needed to transform the way we produce and live with textiles. Below featured article from the TextileR Autumn Newsletter on Shashi Thilakarathne, Department of Textile and Apparel Engineering, PhD study.
HDR Spotlight: Shashi Thilakarathne
Shashi’s ongoing folklore of Kuweni related textile developments and experiments
Shashi is a fashion and lifestyle designer, currently reading her PhD on folklore and fashion design practice under the Department of Textile and Apparel Engineering, University of Moratuwa. The study is co-supervised by Prof. Alice Payne (RMIT), Dr. Sumith Gopura, and Dr. Ayesha Wickramasinghe bringing a multi-disciplinary perspective to this culturally sensitive study. How can heritage and culture be an inspiration for fashion? has been the leading question of Shashi's ongoing work. Folklore inherited in Sri Lanka provides such an interesting intangible cultural heritage that require more attention in preserving in the contemporary world.
With that in mind, Shashi has chosen one of the prominent folklores in the country, “Kuweni".Kuweni is considered as a native young lady who lived in Sri Lanka around the 6th century BC. She has been described as a superhuman being who can transform her personality from a daemon to a human or an animal. Shashi is currently investigating how the character and context of this folklore can be related to the creative practice of fashion product development. Findings of the study in this stage provides ancient mythical jewellery, body adornments, and handweaving as direct elements, the emotions and feelings related to this folklore as intangible outcomes which are strongly informing the fashion directions. Shashi has developed a conceptual model for investigating folklore and currently in the fashion practice stage exploring and experimenting fashion, textile outcomes. Folklore is merely not telling a story no more! It is speaking out for yourself, who you are, and what you believe! Shashi expects that we can rejuvenate to our roots and enliven the socio-cultural values embedded in folklore through fashion.
