In-heritage

Across UAL, ‘community of practice’ groups engage in various forms of disciplinary activity between academics, students and external partners. Our group started as a loose conversation after online teaching enabled sharing of content across courses to reveal common ground and a space for meaningful exchange. After a few online meetings on Teams, the In-Heritage Group was formed in January 2021 by academics from across illustration, 3d product and furniture and interior and spatial design.

In-Heritage Group, a community of practice established during the coronavirus pandemic by academics from across illustration, 3d product and furniture and interior and spatial design, seeking to expand disciplinary research and knowledge exchange activity between heritage objects, sites, and settings to stir narratives in places.

As a way to get to know each other virtually during the pandemic, we collectively decided to explore The Camberwell Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) Collection (https://collections.arts.ac.uk/ collections/camberwell_ilea), an assembly of around 6000 materials and objects first gathered in 1951 as a ‘circulating design scheme’ for children to learn about the principles of ‘good design’. Today these objects are safely stored at Camberwell College of Arts and the group agreed it was a thoughtful and comprehensive online resource, perfectly suited for each of us to ‘remote sense’ with the support, enthusiasm and insight of ILEA Project Curator Jacqueline Winston-Silk.