Rose Sinclair, MBE, Reader in Design Education, Goldsmiths, University of London
The work of Althea McNish is instantly recognisable for its sheer brilliance in the use of colour. But it goes far beyond that, with each design also telling a story, whether linked to her homeland of Trinidad or floral decorations or even the simple onion. In this presentation using items from Crafts Study Centre archive and McNish textiles from my own collection I discuss how McNish takes the viewer on a journey of her imagination through her use of colour and pattern.
Event accompanies Black Atlantic Makers: Conversations at the Crafts Study Centre, on until 23 May 2026.
Rose Sinclair Bio
Reader in Design Education, Goldsmiths, University of London, Sinclair’s PhD doctoral research explored the crafting practices of Black British women, discussed through textiles networks such as Dorcas Clubs.
Rose’s works utilises public engagement and participatory immersive workshops, in spaces such as the V&A London, The Garden Museum and the British Library, House for an Art Lover, and Timespan in Helmsdale, Scotland. Her work on Dorcas Clubs has featured on national TV in ‘Craftivism: Making a Difference’ BBC4 Feb 2021, alongside interviews on BBC Woman’s Hour, and BBC Witness History.
She co-curated the first retrospective of Caribbean textile designer Althea McNish, in 2022 at the William Morris Gallery Althea McNish: Colour is Mine. Rose’s latest research is focused on the first monograph about Althea McNish. Her co-curated work with Craftspace, Dorcas Stories from the Front Room, Textiles Narratives, Now and Then (2024) discussed the legacy of the Windrush generation through craft.
Rose has authored several textile books and chapters, her most recent works being ‘Tracing back to trace forwards, What it means/takes to be a Black Designer' in (2021), Igoe (Ed) Textile Design Theory in the Making; Does Design do Race and in Hardy (Ed) ‘Debates in Design & Technology Education' (2022). She is co-editor Textile: Journal of Cloth and Culture and is Co-Editor of the Journal of Textile Research and Practice. Previously Chair of the Equity Advisory Council at the Crafts Council, Rose is now a Trustee at the Crafts Council, a Trustee of the Textile Society UK, a Trustee at The William Morris Gallery, and an Heritage Crafts Ambassador Heritage Crafts UK, and an Associate member of the APPG Group for Craft, and a founding member of the UBAE (United Black Art Educators) which is part of the NSEAD. Rose was awarded an MBE in 2024 for Services to the Arts.
Email: r.sinclair@gold.ac.uk; @dorcasstories
