Queer Crafts
Many of our academic staff, such as Dr Daniel Fountain, work with both academic and non-academic partners to translate research into wider impact. Daniel has been a special advisor to Crafts Council, the UK’s national charity of craft, who recognise them as “the leading authority on queer craft discourse and practice”.
Daniel has been commissioned to deliver a series of public engagement, engaged research, and impact activities that have benefitted social inclusion, mental health, and wellbeing. For the 50th anniversary of Pride in the UK, they curated a series of workshops with LGBTQ+ families, over 50s, and those escaping from domestic abuse. This collaboration also led to published research on the work of activist-ceramicist, Angus Suttie, (1946-1993) and the curation of an exhibition.
Daniel’s research has benefitted the working practices of many other institutions in the cultural and museum sector. This has included collaborations with local partner Exeter Phoenix for the annual Come As You Are Festival, with the national research group Queer British Art, and with international galleries such as the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art where Daniel’s research on textile artist Paul Yore (b.1988) informed museum interpretation and was published in an exhibition catalogue.
These collaborations have addressed a comparative lack of cultural provision for LGBTQ+ audiences, influenced organisational policy, and informed public understanding of diverse genders and sexualities.
