Endorsement by Dr Eiluned Edwards

Originally trained as a designer, Eiluned Mair Edwards now does research in design history and material culture, specialising in textiles, dress and craft production with a regional focus of South Asia. Her current research includes contemporary production of block-printed textiles and the use of natural dyes; dress and identity; the developmental role of state agencies and non-governmental organisations working in the craft and design sector in India; and the role of craft and embroidery in women’s development in India. She is currently writing a book on Gujarati textiles and dress.

Her thesis, “The Desert and the Sewn: Textiles and Dress of the Rabari of Kachchh,” secured her a PhD in Art History and Archaeology from Manchester University. She even holds a Postgraduate Certificate of Education in Design and Technology from Nottingham Trent University. She has also done her MA in Textiles from Manchester Metropolitan University, and her BA (Hons) in Textile Design, from Nottingham Trent University.

At present she is working at Victoria and Albert Museum/ London College of Fashion as a Joint Senior Research Fellow in Textiles and Dress. She is also a Consultant for a forthcoming exhibition on the sari (2010) at Textiles Research Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands. She has had the experience of working in De Montfort University, Leicester, as a Research Fellow in Textiles and Dress and as a Tutor of MA South Asian Arts; at Shrujan Trust, Gujarat, India, as a consultant on the development of the archive at the Embroidery Centre in Bhujodi Village, Gujarat; at Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India as a Research assistant on project to establish the Embroidery Gallery; and as a Freelance designer specialising in wall-hung textiles. She has also worked as a visiting lecturer (in Textiles, Design History and Cultural Studies) at Manchester Metropolitan University, Nottingham Trent University, John Moores University, Lincoln College of Art and Design, Farnham College of Art and Design.

Eiluned has made several literary contributions to publications. These contributions included ‘The Role of Veilcloths among the Rabaris of Kutch, Gujarat, Western India,’ Costume, vol. 43 (2009); ‘Hair, Devotion and Trade in India,’ Hair: Styling, Culture and Fashion, (2008); ‘Cloth and Community: The Local Trade in Resist-dyed and Block-printed Textiles in Kachchh District, Gujarat,’ in Textile History; ‘Patterns of Adaptation among Pastoral Nomads in Gujarat,’ South Asian Studies, vol. 21 (2005); ‘Marriage and Dowry Customs of the Rabari of Kachchh,’ Wedding Dress Across Cultures, (2003); and ‘Textiles and Dress of the Rabari of Kachchh,’ Ars Textrina, vol. 33 (2001), to name a few.

One of her forthcoming publications is, ‘Pattern, People and Place: Printed and Dyed Textiles of Kachchh, Gujarat,’ Traditional Arts of South Asia: Past Practice, Living Traditions (2009). Other works - ‘The Work of the Khatris of Kachchh: Ajrakh and Block-printed Textiles,’ (2009), Traditional Arts of South Asia: Past Practice, Living Traditions; and Review of ‘The Grace of Four Moons,’ Fashion Theory, vol. 13, (2009), ‘Textiles and Dress among the Rabari of Kutch,’ (2010), and The Idea of Gujarat - co-authored with Ismail Mohammad Khatri, are also in the pipeline.


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