Marina Castledine

A Techné AHRC funded doctoral student, researching the social practice of Lefkaritika, a unique style of Cypriot needlework inscribed onto the United Nation’s ‘List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. A socially engaged practitioner, with experience of working with vulnerable communities especially through the foregrounding of women’s voice. Current research explores safeguarding practice and considers creative methods in providing alternative approaches to cultural heritage preservation. Ethnographic field work conducts the first audit of archive material and gathers previously unrecorded stories of lacemakers lives. Revealing multilayered silences in the history and practice of the craft, a series of creative interventions, including the production of a Photobook and a course for emerging artists, develops a decolonial listening practice inspired by defining features of the craft itself.