Following “Same Place, Another Time” and “Soft”, “Removing the Threshold” was the third iteration of an exhibition for the Central Saint Martin’s summer showcase, where we explored the use of fabric at an architectural scale.

This student-led exhibition titled “Removing the Threshold”, built upon the ruffled curtains dyed with cabbage and saffron that had been produced the previous year in collaboration with MA Fashion for the exhibition “Soft”. Additional pieces were integrated to extend the curtains, enclosing a 6-meter-high scaffolding structure and defining a space with civic and theatrical qualities. The expanded fabric was dyed yellow, enhancing the vibrant, immersive atmosphere of the installation.

“Removing the Threshold: The body of student work highlighted diverse lived experiences and ‘beyond human’ viewpoints through politically and socially engaged spatial practices. Through these ways of working, students re-evaluated their professional positions and contributions to the existing design hierarchy, creating an alternative manifesto for care-led practice.Thresholds or barriers are often introduced to stop someone or something from entering. They create an outside through the encircling of an inside. The edge of these centres can reveal deeply rooted ideas, beliefs and tensions which elevate certain ways of being over others.

It is important we break with this way of thinking if we are to work towards a more equitable human and beyond human world. To do this though requires, as bell hooks expresses in ‘From Margin to Center’ (1984), the creation of a cross-movement, ‘counter-hegemony.’”

Text by 2^nd year MA 2023/24