AMPS Heritage Conference London – June 2025
Exploring changing landscapes and sustainable development across Borneo’s craft sector
Dr Marianne McAra
This summer I attended the AMPS Conference, hosted at the University of Greenwich London, to share research on vernacular materials in craft practices and the impacts of climate change in Borneo’s creative economy. The paper presented contextual and methodological insights from collaborative research that involved the participation of 11 craft communities located across Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan, and which was presented on behalf of the programme team Wendy Teo, Dr Gamia Dewanggamanik and Professor Lynn-Sayers McHattie and in acknowledgment and deep gratitude to each of the craft practitioners, artisans and initiatives who collaborated. The wider conference brought together a global community of practitioners and academics sharing work from across a wide range of areas such as architecture, craft, museology, community heritage, digital heritage, intangible heritage, film, science and preservation, gender, violence and politics. The spirit of AMPS is to facilitate interdisciplinary and intersectional conservation and debate, which was reflected in the richly diverse programme of speakers from around the world representing practices and research from over 40 countries.
Over three days, I attended a variety of presentations. Highlights from day one included Dr Henrietta Simson from the University of the Arts London, who shared insights from her painting practice around the ‘politics of the verticality’ in representations of Cornish landscapes; and Romina Frohar, a PhD candidate from The Glasgow School of Art, share insights and examples from their practice-based research exploring UNESCO’s state-based heritage system and critiquing ways in which regimes control cultural memory and erasure in the context of Iran, highlighting the need for heritage preservation beyond state control.
On day two, Dr William Truitt from the University of Houston College of Architecture and Design discussed heritage in the context of post-colonial Cuba in his paper entitled ‘La Rampa: Havana and Modernity- Revolving Space of Capital and Conflict’. Truitt explored a Havana’s Vedado neighbourhood where one street reveals how history, politics, and modern life constantly reshape the city, creating a mix of change, struggle and inequality. Following this, Dr Robert Silberman from the University of Minnesota shared research that examines how the historic site of Fort Snelling has been revised to include Indigenous perspectives and difficult histories, reflecting broader efforts to present a more accurate and inclusive view of the past. Dr Haza Hanurhaza Md Jani and Dr Mazlina Mansor from the International Islamic University Malaysia shared insights from their research around the role of digital platforms to support youth engagement in cultural heritage preservation across Malaysia, with the aim to sustain the country’s diverse heritage for the future.
On day three, Dr Avsar Gürpinar from Loughborough University shared their paper ‘Hypercraft Revisited: Lace and Parametric Modeling’, exploring digital textiles and 3D printing, which spotlighted Nottingham lace and the cultural associations to Turkey. Dilruba Shuvra, a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee shared her research examining how the shift from domestic to workshop-based Jamdani weaving, a form of Dhakai fine muslin, has reshaped the homes and living spaces of Bengali weavers, highlighting the connection between craft, culture and the built environment. And lastly, Amani Taresh, a Kuwaiti artist, educator and current PhD candidate at the University of Reading, shared her research exploring how Al-Sadu, a traditional Kuwaiti weaving practice, influences the cultural identity of diaspora Kuwaiti children living in the UK, revealing that engaging with its patterns through art practices helps them connect to their culture heritage despite the effects of globalisation.
Whilst culturally, creatively and academically diverse, a throughline that connected across the AMPS conference were pressing challenges pertaining to sustainability impacting on preservation, access, and equity in cultural heritage practices. Whether through critical engagement with material culture, digital innovation, or community-led initiative, the conversations throughout the conference underscored a collective urgency to reimagine cultural heritage not as static or state-bound, but as dynamic, living practices shaped by those who inhabit it. Leaving the conference, I was reminded that our shared responsibility lies in fostering inclusive, context-sensitive approaches to cultural preservation that are ethically adaptive to the complex realities of the present. In my own research going forward, I will be further exploring climate-adaptive creative practices to support intergenerational knowledge transfer and cultural continuity.