Skip to content
1981
Costume and Pedagogy
  • ISSN: 2052-4013
  • E-ISSN: 2052-4021

Abstract

This article demonstrates how the consideration of costume can be a catalyst in developing curatorial/cultural programming approaches and, in reciprocation, how curatorial/cultural programming choices expand costume dissemination by means of atypical audience engagement and activation. The article contributes to costume discourse by elevating costume as a teaching and learning tool in a related discipline (curation) and by revealing how costume can be recontextualized and renewed for interactive public reception, going beyond costume as garment/artefact to expand the area of costume curation itself. The underlying research evaluates the pedagogical approach that steered an industry–academia project within an emerging area of arts and culture-related practice in higher education (HE), referred to as mutually beneficial ‘knowledge exchange’ (KE). The aim of the partnership project was to move a traditional fashion curation curriculum towards the performance-related realm of ‘cultural programming’, expanding students’ experience of real-world working practices and outputs, potentially leading to a richer range of employment opportunities upon graduation. As such, MA Fashion Curation and Cultural Programming students from London College of Fashion (LCF) at University of the Arts London (UAL) created three costume-based interventions as part of the yearly performance festival at the internationally renowned Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Framing four main research observations with Meyer and Land’s 2006 theory of ‘threshold concepts’ in parallel with the principles of KE practice, both being portals towards new understandings and knowledge, this research additionally contributes to KE scholarship by addressing the need for more analytical case-studies involving students. More widely, this costume study evidences how KE scaffolds the discursive, collaborative teaching practices that are already a signature pedagogy of art and design (Shreeve et al. 2010), and suggests that KE might be vital to the growing demand for new models of creative education (Comunian et al. 2015: 17) that develop industry–academia communities of practice.

© 2024 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/scp_00115_1
2024-12-27
2026-04-18

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Barbieri, Donatella (2016), ‘Costume before and beyond the production: The spacelab costume workshops at Prague Quadrennial’, Studies in Costume & Performance, 1:2, pp. 199–206, https://doi.org/10.1386/scp.1.2.199_5.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Burnett, Kate (2014), ‘Addressing the absent: Drawing and scenography’, in A. Anderson and S. Pantouvaki (eds), Presence and Absence: The Performing Body, Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp. 3–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Comunian, Roberta and Gilmore, Abigail (2015), Beyond the Creative Campus: Reflections on the Evolving Relationship between Higher Education and the Creative Economy, London: King’s College London, https://www.creative-campus.org.uk/. Accessed 9 April 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Comunian, Roberta, Gilmore, Abigail and Jacobi, Silvie (2015), ‘Higher education and the creative economy: Creative graduates, knowledge transfer and regional impact debates’, Geography Compass, 9:7, pp. 371–83, https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12220.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Heskett, Corinne (2024), ‘Costume events at the Prague Quadrennial of performance design and space 2023’, Studies in Costume & Performance, 9:1, pp. 87–93, https://doi.org/10.1386/scp_00111_5.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Isaac, Veronica (2021), ‘Costume centre stage: Re-membering Ellen Terry (1847–1928)’, in S. Pantouvaki and P. McNeil (eds), Performance Costume New Perspectives and Methods, Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 69–87.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Knowledge Exchange Concordat (2020), ‘What is knowledge exchange (KE)?’, https://support.keconcordat.ac.uk/about-the-ke-concordat/what-is-knowledge-exchange-ke. Accessed 2 December 2023.
  8. de la Haye, Amy and Clark, Judith (2008), ‘One object: Multiple interpretations’, Fashion Theory, 12:2, pp. 137–69, https://doi.org/10.2752/175174108X298962.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Land, Ray, Cousin, Glynis, Meyer, Jan H. F. and Davies, Peter (2005), ‘Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3): Implications for course design and evaluation’, in C. Rust (ed.), Improving Student Learning: Diversity and Inclusivity, Proceedings of the 12th Improving Student Learning Conference, Oxford: OCLSD, pp. 53–64.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. LCF Team (2022–23), written reflections, observation of in-curriculum project sessions, project documents and project debriefs across September 2022–June 2023.
  11. Malik, Nadia (forthcoming 2025), ‘An exploration of knowledge exchange at PQ 2023: Practice and pedagogy’, in K. Sandys and L. Thornett (eds), hello stranger: part three (working title), Wales: Performance Research Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Marzocchi, Chiara, Kitigawa, Fumi, Rossi Federica, and Uyarra Elvira (2023), ‘Reconceptualising knowledge exchange and higher education institutions: Broadening our understanding of motivations, channels and stakeholders’, Studies in Higher Education, 48:5, pp. 673–82, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2184791.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Meyer, Jan and Land, Ray (eds) (2006), Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Monks, Aoife (2021), ‘Curating costume: Reflection’, in S. Pantouvaki and P. McNeil (eds), Performance Costume New Perspectives and Methods, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 63–65.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Moreton, Simon (2018), ‘Contributing to the creative economy imaginary: Universities and the creative sector’, Cultural Trends, 27:5, pp. 327–38, https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2018.1534575.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. National Centre for Universities and Business (2022), ‘Knowledge exchange concordat: Review of action plans’, July, https://www.ncub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ncub-kec-review-action-plans.pdf. Accessed 20 December 2023.
  17. Orr, Susan and Shreeve, Alison (2018), Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the Creative Curriculum, Oxford: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Pantouvaki, Sofia (2014), ‘Costume in the absence of the body’, in A. Anderson and S. Pantouvaki (eds), Presence and Absence: The Performing Body, Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp. 101–27.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Pantouvaki, Sofia (2016), ‘Tribes: Costume performance and social interaction in the heart of Prague’, Theatre and Performance Design, 2:1–2, pp. 34–53.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Pantouvaki, Sofia (2016), ‘Critical costume 2015: Curatorial approaches and transmedia display practices in exhibiting performance costume’, in E. Petridou (ed.), Costume Symposia - Proceedings 5th Symposium, Exhibiting Dress: Engaging with the Past and the Present, The Netherlands Institute at Athens, 28 May, Athens: Hellenic Costume Society, pp. 37–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Pantouvaki, Sofia and McNeil, Peter (eds) (2021), Performance Costume New Perspectives and Methods, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Pecorari, Marco (2018), ‘Beyond garments: Reorienting the practice and discourse of fashion curating’, in A. Vänskä and H. Clark (eds), Fashion Curating: Critical Practice in the Museum and Beyond, London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 183–97.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Perkins, David (1999), ‘The many faces of constructivism’, Educational Leadership, 57:3, pp. 6–11.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Practitioner Team (2022–23), written reflections, observation of in-curriculum project sessions, project documents and project debriefs across September 2022–June 2023.
  25. Shreeve, Alison (2010), ‘A phenomenographic study of the relationship between professional practice and teaching your practice to others’, Studies in Higher Education, 35:6, pp. 691–703, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070903254602.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Shreeve, Alison, Sims, Ellen and Trowler, Paul (2010), ‘“A kind of exchange”: Learning from art and design teaching’, Higher Education Research & Development, 29:2, pp. 125–38, https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360903384269.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Sigal, Sarah (2021), ‘Knowledge exchange, HEIs and the arts and culture sector: A systematic review of literature in the field’, The National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange, https://www.ncace.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sigal-Sarah-Knowledge-Exchange-HEIs-and-the-Arts-and-Culture-Sector-2.pdf. Accessed 12 December 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Spies, Sarah (2024), ‘Curating performance/performing curation: Tendencies and tactics’, https://www.curating.org/curating-performance-as-curatorial-method/. Accessed 7 May 2024.
  29. Student Team (2022–23), written reflections, observation of in-curriculum project sessions, project documents and project debriefs across September 2022–June 2023.
  30. University Alliance (2017), ‘The hidden story: Understanding knowledge exchange partnerships with the creative economy’, 4 December, https://www.unialliance.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/THE-HIDDEN_STORY-REPORT_final_web.pdf. Accessed 6 April 2024.
  31. V&A Team (2022–23), written reflections, observation of in-curriculum project sessions, project documents and project debriefs across September 2022–June 2023.
  32. Villeneuve, Pat, Martin-Hamon, Amanda and Mitchell, Kristina E. (2006), ‘University in the art museum: A model for museum-faculty collaboration’, Art Education, 59:1, pp. 12–17.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Wenger, Etienne (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/scp_00115_1
Loading
Costume curation knowledge exchange: A case study on experimental pedagogy
Studies in Costume & Performance 9, 133 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/scp_00115_1
/content/journals/10.1386/scp_00115_1
/content/journals/10.1386/scp_00115_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): costume curation; creative and cultural industries; cultural programming; industry–academia; knowledge exchange (KE); teaching and learning; threshold concepts

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test