Participatory research into autonomous community archiving through textile craft and creative reuse of existing materials.

A speculative design project ‘Imagining a future ‘Community Memory Archive’ of co-created storytelling that emerges in response to a loss of human connection and over reliance and stimulation of digital communication. Preserving cultures, histories and local wisdom for future generations in the co-creation of material artifacts through creative reuse of discarded textile and foil balloons.

The textile book was stitched using waste foil balloons sourced from a party store and diverted from landfill. The fabric, dead-stock from the fashion industry, was sourced from Renee Materials. The visual motifs and images co-created by the students of MA Design for Social Innovation and Sustainable Futures and members of the public during the exhibition through collage and print making workshops and mapping collective hopes and values for the future.