Experimental Sessions and Global Perspectives at BICCS 2025
In October, craft researchers from around the world gathered in Mariestad, Sweden, for the third Craft Science Conference BICCS. Over 100 researchers attended and were presented to the breadth of craft research through a variety of non-traditional research outputs during the conference.
During the BICCS conference in Mariestad in Sweden in October, participants had the opportunity to raise and discuss a breadth of topics in parallel sessions. This year's edition included themes on historical tar production, AI and traditional craftsmanship, experimental weaving, pre-industrial planes, and historical gardens.
Sustainability in Indian craft
Christina Zetterlund, Craft and Design Historian at Linnaeus University, highlights a talk about sustainability in the Indian traditional craft sector.
“A talk that really made an impact was the seminar on traditional craft in India. The contributor, Assistant Professor Sharmistha Banerjee, really excelled in explaining the complexity in the importance of understanding craft in a social and historical context”, says Christina Zetterlund.
Key notes and key performance
The keynote speaker, Ann-Sophie Lehmann, Professor of Art History and Material Culture at the University of Groningen, revisited Hannah Arendt's homo farber in her talk. Looking at making's relationship to language, visuality, and pedagogy, she presented how making, traditionally defined as embodied and tacit, is becoming explicit as craftspeople and artists make their practice public through a variety of formats, including podcasts, documentaries, publications, artworks, performances, demonstrations, archiving, and more.
The keynote speaker, Trevor Marchand, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at SOAS and Honorary Research Fellow of the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme at UCA, gave a talk about the exploration of embodied mathematizing in creative practices.
This year, BICCS also presented a keynote performance. Marie Ekstedt Bjersing, lecturer in Textile Technology at The Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås, used a double-flyer spinning wheel to give insight into her work to recapturing historical skills in double spinning.
Experimental sessions
Erin Dowding, PhD Student in Design History, and participating with a poster on queer weaving together with Ian Danner, MFA Candidate in Design Studies, talked about the unexpected pairing during sessions.
“The interesting pairing in some sessions really brought an openness and freedom in relating to others’ craft disciplines. The pairing was thoughtfully made, and I appreciated the way they complemented each other”, says Erin Dowding.
ABOUT BICCS
BICCS showcases the breadth of craft research and encourages craftspeople to communicate their research using formats other than traditional research papers.
Traditional article contributions will be published in the Norwegian journal FormAkademisk. Other formats will be presented on the BICCS Web Portal.
BICCS 2025 was hosted by the Craft Laboratory and the Department of Conservation at the University of Gothenburg.
