Glasgow School Of Art 2021 Prestigious Newbery Medal Awarded To Multi-Disciplinary Textile Designer Kialy Tihngang
Multi-disciplinary textile designer, Kialy Tihngang, has been awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal, it was announced today, 2 July 2021, as the latest cohort of students graduated from The Glasgow School of Art.
Named for the acclaimed Director of the GSA, Francis Newbery, the medal is awarded to the top graduating student.
Over 40 awards were presented to graduating students including the Newbery and five Chairman’s Medals.
The online graduation featured a guest contribution from Glasgow School of Art Product Design Graduate Amy Corbett, who is currently a Senior Design Manager at the LEGO Group, and an alternative commencement speech from Travis Alabanza.
“The Department is absolutely delighted that Kialy has been recognized in this way,” says Head of Fashion and Textiles, Professor Jimmy Stephen-Cran. “Her work makes a serious comment about environmental racism and waste colonialism, but does so in an engaging and playful way. The colourful self-operating gadgets she makes from scrap materials are a pure joy.”
As a comment on the increasing disposability of consumer electronics, which are often dumped in the global south at their end of life, Kialy, whose family originally comes from Cameroon, created a collection of objects that mimic the aesthetics of e-waste and mock the movements of machinery.
“The 2020 Black Lives Matter resurgence led me to researching ways in which black people’s lives are still affected by racism, in less well-known ways than police brutality. I came across electronic waste dumping, a form of climate colonialism where old phones, laptops, and industrial waste from the global north are illegally dumped in countries in the global south – increasingly in Ghana”
“I was taken by the garish and ugly innards of discarded electronics: the colourful motherboards contrast greatly with the sleek designs of their outer shells. As a comment on the increasing disposability of consumer electronics, I created a collection of objects that mimic the aesthetics of e-waste and mock the movements of machinery: useless machines. With a focus on combining clashing materials with robotic movements, the ‘machines’ are functionally useless, but unlike the abandoned electronics that inspired them, they will be kept forever. Because of this lack of function, they could be ascribed to number of contexts, ranging from costume or accessory design, to set design, as displayed in my final video. They are made of interlocking panels of laser cut wood, wrapped in materials – mostly found fabrics and industry donations – and hand stitched to differentiate them from the mass produced, impersonal products that currently litter landfills”
“I visualised these machines as pieces of set design or standalone props, using them in a photoshoot and video in the style of a 1970s/80s technology infomercial, in a reference to our current overconsumption of technology. I hope this project will bring some awareness to that, and to the e-waste dumping crisis in Ghana”
Kialy has also been awarded the Incorporation of Skinners & Glovers Prize for leatherwork
