Crafting Textiles in the Digital Age

Nithikul Nimkulrat is the Professor and Head of Department of Textile Design at the Estonian Academy of Art, Estonia. Previously a Lecturer in Textiles and a member of the Textile Research Group (TRG) at the Loughborough University, she is also a practicing textile artist and designer. Her research interest is rooted in her textile practice, reaching across conceptual issues in art and design, especially the role of creative practice in academic research and the immateriality of physical materials in creative processes.

Faith Kane is Associate Professor and Major Co-ordinator of Textiles in the School of Design, at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand. After gaining her PhD, Designing Nonwovens: Industrial and Craft Perspectives, she taught constructed textiles at De Montfort University in Leicester, leaving in 2008 to take up her current position at Loughborough. Her current interests revolve around sustainable materials design and in particular the role and value of craft knowledge within this area. She is involved in her own practice-led research as well as the development of collaborative research projects and events. Current projects include 'Laser Enhanced Biotechnology for Textile Design' and 'Textile Thinking for Sustainable Materials'.

Kerry Walton is the Programme Director for Textiles: Innovation and Design, School of the Arts, Loughborough University. Kerry completed a Master's degree at the Royal College of Art in 1981 and worked for a number of years as a free-lance woven textile designer and maker, exhibiting and selling through trade shows and galleries in Europe and the USA. Research interests include practice based design influenced by research on new materials and innovations in Textiles, and she has produced design collections for exhibition at the Indigo Trade Fair in Paris. Recent Research Activity includes a Materials and Design Exchange (Technology Strategy Board funded) SPARK award in collaboration with Heritage Cashmere (Halifax) manufacturer of cashmere products for a global market, for the development of innovative laser-processed designs.