Helena Britt
Helena Britt
- Senior Lecturer
- ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5764-9279- Job Title
- Senior Lecturer
- School or Academic Area
- School of Design
- School or Academic Area Supervised for
- School of Design, School of Innovation and Technology
- H.Britt@gsa.ac.uk
- Professional Address
- Department of Fashion & Textiles, School of Design, Reid Building, 164 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6RQ.
Biography
Dr Helena Britt’s work investigates textile design histories, creative processes and art school pedagogies through archival inquiry, practice based methods, oral testimony and curation. She collaborates on projects that reinterpret textile archives through exhibitions, publications and public engagement. Ongoing research examines how textile designers reinterpret design practices, motifs and procedures to generate new work.
Recent research examines the archive of visual artist Fraser Taylor and the 1980s collective, The Cloth. This informed Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977–1987 Revisited, a collaboration with the curatorial arts organisation Panel and Taylor. Project outcomes explored printed textile design, interdisciplinarity, and Glasgow’s creative culture during the 1970s-80s. Earlier work increased understanding of carpet design in Scotland by investigating the Stoddard Templeton design library and design studio.
Helena is Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice co-editor, Association of Fashion and Textile Courses steering group and AHRC Peer Review College member.
Research Interests
Textile design histories and archives; printed textile design, digital technologies and creative processes; practice-based and curatorial research methods; collaborative and interdisciplinary design approaches; design pedagogies and creative arts education histories.
Grants
Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited. Co-curator / Co-author. [Awarded to Fraser Taylor] Creative Scotland - Open Fund; Hope Scott Trust. 2022 – 2025.
The Cloth: Exploring Creative Collaboration and Interdisciplinarity, 1977-87. PI. The Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, £54,900; GSA SFC Covid-19 Impact Funding, £3,253. 2019 - 2022 .
Pioneers of Post-War Pattern. Co-I. GSA Centre for Advanced Textiles; GSA Archives & Collections. 2017 – 2018.
The Glasgow School of Art Fashion Show, 1947-2017. Co-I. Incorporation of Skinners & Glovers, £1,000; GSA Archives & Collections. £1,500; GSA School of Design, £1,450. 2016 – 2017.
Creativity, Collaboration and Cross-Disciplinarity: The Cloth, 1977-87. Co-I. The Textile Society. £1,250. 2015 – 2017.
Interwoven Connections: The Stoddard Templeton Design Studio & Design Library, 1843-2005. PI. The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Small Research Grant, £7,485; Design History Society Conference Presentation, £500; GSA Research Development Fund, £16,965; GSA Exhibitions, £5,000. 2012 – 2014.
Practising to teach: an investigation into the role of the designer educator in the development of digitally created and digitally printed textiles.
GSA Centre for Advanced Textiles (CAT), PhD Scholarship. 2001 – 2008.
PGR Supervision Interests
Historical and contemporary textile design; place-based and material-led design research; archives, collections and curatorial practice; practice-based and practice-led research methodologies; creative arts education, design pedagogy, research-teaching linkages.
Current PGR Students
Cecilia Charlton - Scottish Pre-industrial Textiles from the 18th-19th Centuries: Repositioning the Significance of Craft Narratives in Histories of Rurality, Migration and Production. SGSAH CDA Funded.
Mhari McMullan - Patterning Paisley: Museum retail and strategies for commercialising a historic textile collection through contemporary textile practice. SGSAH CDA Funded.
Former PGR Students
Megan Allan - Sustainable sensibilities: exploring approaches to supporting and developing sustainability focused learning for textile design higher education at the Glasgow School of Art. MRes.
Jonathan Cleaver - The interrelationship of carpet weaving technologies and design in the work of James Templeton and Company, Glasgow, carpet manufacturer, 1890 – 1939. SGSAH Funded PhD.
Teaching
Helena is Programme Leader for Textile Design at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA). She manages the undergraduate programme, supports and supervises learning, teaching, and postgraduate research.
Latest Additions
- Britt, Helena (2025) IKEA: Magical Patterns [Exhibition Review]. Selvedge Magazine (127). pp. 92-93. ISSN 1742-254X; 2059-6766
- Lister, Graham (2024) 'Made You Look', Instant Whip – Fraser Taylor, Textiles and Papers 1977-87 Revisited. In: Instant Whip – Fraser Taylor, Textiles and Papers 1977-87 Revisited. Panel, Glasgow, UK, pp. 46-49. ISBN 9781738491209
- Britt, Helena and Panel CIC, ., eds. (2024) Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited. Panel, Glasgow. ISBN 9781738491209
- Britt, Helena (2024) Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor. In: Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited. Panel, pp. 8-14. ISBN 978-1-7384912-0-9
- Britt, Helena, McEachan, Lucy and Duffy, Catriona (2024) Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited. Reid Gallery and Window on Heritage, The Glasgow School of Art, 16 March – 20 April 2024
- Marr, Anne, Steed, Josie and Britt, Helena, eds. (2023) Special Issue: Futurescan 5: Conscious Communities. Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice, 11 (1-2). Taylor and Francis.
- Marr, Anne, Steed, Josie and Britt, Helena (2023) Futurescan 5: Conscious Communities Editorial. Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice, 11 (1-2). pp. 1-5. ISSN 2051-1787
- Britt, Helena (2020) Futurescan 4: Valuing Practice Editorial. Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice, 8 (2). pp. 123-125. ISSN 2051-1787
- Britt, Helena, ed. (2020) Special Issue: Futurescan 4: Valuing Practice. Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice, 8 (2). Taylor & Francis.
- Britt, Helena (2020) Fraser Taylor & The Cloth. DESign ONline.
