About TRACtion
Keeping traditional costumes alive through education creates awareness and enhances creativity. It enables students to expand on the knowledge acquired and broaden their career opportunities within the creative industry. The project TRACtion intends to stimulate young people to become aware of and appreciate their garment heritage, as well as to recreate it according to their contemporary aesthetic preferences. It will revive, innovate and digitalise three traditional European costumes and simultaneously educate participants on their historical, creative, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects.
The University of Malta, the University of Helsinki, and St. Angela’s College, Sligo, Ireland, are higher education institutions, all well-equipped with particular departments that already deliver modules/study units to students opting for an education in fashion and textiles. Currently, there are no projects that revive traditional European costumes within an interdisciplinary context and with the scope of expanding employment possibilities for those who study in this area.
Through TRACtion, students at different levels will gain insights into these traditional costumes. They will be encouraged to apply the lateral thinking, creative skills, and tools necessary for innovative creations. The project will also safeguard these traditional costumes and crafts by promoting the cultural heritage of these three countries through publications, interactive/online workshops, competition, online and on-site exhibitions.
The project will reach students and academics from different institutions, professionals such as artists, fashion designers, educators, historians, costume historians, anthropologists, entrepreneurs, media, and the general public of different backgrounds and ethnicities.