Introduction
Cally Blackman is Stage 1 Leader on BA Fashion Communication at CSM. With 2nd year students, Cally facilitates a project called Global Perspectives, with the aim of decentring the curriculum and encouraging students to take the lead with their research interests.
Provoking thinking and exploration through museums and exhibitions
In previous years, the project has incorporated museum and exhibition visits, such as:
- The Multaka-Oxford tours of collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum, led by guides and volunteers from a range of countries who each speak to the collections from their own cultures and experiences and highlight objects that have significance to them.
- Charting Black Lives, the W.E.B. Du Bois infographic exhibition at the House of Illustration, neighbouring CSM off Granary Square.
In this year’s iteration of Global Perspectives, Cally cites the availability of online archives and lectures as alternatives to physical site visits.
Critical pedagogy
Cally describes the project as a revelation, with tutors learning alongside students and responding to a series of generative provocations.
‘The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is [themself] taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow.’
- Freire, P. (1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Penguin (p61-62).
In our conversation about the project and her pedagogy, Cally spoke about consciously moving away from Eurocentric approaches that position fashion as belonging to the ‘West’, and folk dress and textiles as ethnographic objects rather than fashion objects. In her teaching, Cally does not differentiate between fashion, dress or costume (except for performance), consciously de-linking her teaching from imperialist and colonial canons.
Cally’s current work is continuing to build on her critical research into identity and early colour photography in non-Western European cultures during her PGCert in Academic Practice. She described her long journey in critical pedagogy, which includes her experience studying on the Inclusive Practice unit and engaging with Shades of Noir.
Responses from students
Last year’s Global Perspectives zine includes critical and challenging pieces by students – from the role of dress in the relationship between colonial France and Senegal to challenging the Western representation of the Middle East.
Luca has kindly agreed to share his film on Curriculum Activisms. To find out more about Luca’s work, you can visit his website at www.lucabuddenhagen.com.