In the Caribbean, the name crokus bag is used to refer to burlap sacks, also known as hessian or gunny sacks. They are made from woven natural fibres like jute and are traditionally used for transporting and storing goods.

During this fascinating talk, Rose will give an overview of her research and a general introduction to her work, as well as discussing aspects of her study of craft crochet and crokus bags. Rose will explore the history of crokus bags, their many uses, and their significance within Caribbean culture.

About Rose Sinclair

Rose Sinclair MBE is Reader in Design, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her PhD doctoral research is distinctive with its focus on Black British women and their crafting practices, discussed through textiles networks such as Dorcas Clubs.

Rose’s works utilises public engagement and participatory immersive workshops, and talks 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, The Horniman in London.

Her work on Dorcas Clubs has featured on national TV in Craftivism: Making a Difference (BBC 4 Feb 2021). Her expertise in design has featured in Your Kitchen: 60 years of Fads and Gadgets (Channel 5 2024) and 1970’s Christmas (Channel 5), 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, which toured to The Whitworth in Manchester.

Rose ‘s latest research, is a focused on the first monograph about Althea McNish. Her latest co-curated work with Craftspace, Dorcas Stories from the Front Room, Textiles Narratives, Now and Then (23rd Sept – 29th Oct 2024) discussed the legacy of the Windrush generation through textile 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 (2021), Igoe (Ed) Textile Design Theory in the Making; and Hemmings (Ed) The Textile Reader (2023), Does Design do Race (Dec 2022) in Hardy (Ed) Debates in Design & Technology Education.

She is Joint Editor-in-Chief of 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 and a 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.