Exploring the Significance of Traditions
Written by: Isabelle Sain, Communications Volunteer @ Threading Change
Editor: Sarah O’Rourke, Communications Manager @ Threading Change
[3-minute read]
Over the years, society’s relationship to tradition has declined. The rapid pace of scientific discoveries, and advancements in technology and manufacturing have led to a rise in mass production, and have further contributed to a shift away from traditional crafts.
With this came consequential changes in societal patterns and economic systems; changes which altered the nature of work, encouraged urbanization, virtually unabated resource utilization, and eventually led to a capitalist mindset.
This era is marked by the application of human capabilities to the pursuit of wealth and power. These ways of manufacturing have affected our lifestyle as we know it and over the years traditions have not been sustained, a truth that is evident in the fashion industry.
The ways of making and maintaining traditions, and the appreciation of the techniques, materials, methods, and practices from the past are becoming more and more irrelevant, Yet, such techniques hold the solutions to greater social inclusion and may offer promising solutions to resource overutilization and other environmental concerns.
There is power in traditions, especially as in the past, they were the driving forces that not only helped sustain a culture by creating a sense of community, but also fostered sustainability.
When reintroducing traditions, specifically with the use of textiles and practicing craft, it should be based on the application of human capabilities deliberately for having a more meaningful material culture, especially when it comes to the expansive developments in globalization and markets (Walker, 44). Culturally significant traditions and artifacts can be used to create a meaningful relationship to materials, which emphasize their worth, and can in turn lead to a decrease in their utilization. The appreciation for materials and the traditional use of them have become irrelevant in our fast paced and future-oriented world of technological progress and possibility.
Child's sleeping mat (boro shikimono), late 19th century
The Japanese Boro, derived from the Japanese boroboro, meaning something tattered or repaired, refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles, often clothes or bedding, through piecing, patching and stitching, in order to extend the textile’s use. It is the practice that grew out of necessity in Medieval Japan and has evolved over the years into a distinctive and effective solution and practice.
We have faced a detachment of traditions and conventional understandings of how to make items that last, and where they have come from has become irrelevant - this disconnect has had significant consequences in how we appreciate material culture.
Robe, unknown, 1850 – 1900, Japan. Museum no. FE.27-2015. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Contemporary lifestyles have prevented us from pursuing the traditional techniques used in the past which depressed the value in items leading to their consumable nature. As a society we are not fully appreciating where materials are coming from, the effects they have on our environment and the exploitative practices that are currently being done.
The market driven and consumption-based society contributes to the serious threat to the long standing practices of making. It the fashion industry who must see that “tradition is not simply about the past, it is about seeing the future with continuity and extending contextualization embodied knowledge to the practices and values for coming generations,'' (Walker, 45).
Traditions must be used to reimagine the fashion industry to stop the overproduction of consumable goods and create more of a platform for services that prolong the lifespan of items. It is looking to tradition to organize purpose and preserve what is valued beyond lifespan.
About the Author:
Isabelle is an artist whose work is an ongoing sensory experience that explores the relationships between body and space. Her work is grounded in establishing connections and events that define shared experiences to understand human interaction within the physical, political, social, and spiritual environment. Isabelle obtained her BFA in Textiles and Fashion at NSCAD University. Isabelle’s work has been exhibited in Toronto, Halifax, and Copenhagen. She has conducted a number of research projects investigating the future of fashion with KEA University, and has collaborated with several brands including Samsøe & Samsøe, and the Green Cannabis Co. In her art practice and experiences, she has created textile based design processes and solutions that establish connections to reinterpret textile production into a more environmentally and socially conscious industry. She is grounded by the preserving and passing of tradition while focusing her research on designs and systems, intersectional environmentalism, and climate justice.
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