“Understood in its full-sense, passion for the land where one lives is a start, an action we must endlessly risk.” Édouard Glissant

I edit Garland magazine, which features stories about what we make from across the world. I try as much as possible to use it as a platform for a wide range of other voices.

This email is a more personal forum for sharing stories about where I live and the questions that continue to arise from my role as a knowledge worker for the crafts.

Many of the stories are from my neighbourhood, Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne/Narrm, Australia. The unofficial Indigenous name is Buleke-bek.

Suburbs can often be serviced by retail franchises that offer nothing distinctive to their local identity. Brunswick is fortunate to have many independent enterprises where goods and services are produced on the premises. They all have fascinating back stories that are yet to be shared online. I hope this is a positive example of how individuals can still play an active role in sustaining their world.

Along the way, I share occasional thoughts about what it means to “make” a culture.

Who are culture-makers?

Culture-makers create products or services in a way that nurtures their community. This can be in a workshop that teaches manual techniques that sustains a local craft. It can be locally-made products that foster a sense of identity. Or it can be in making the stories that bind a community together.

Why are culture-makers important?

We are conditioned by consumerism to look at the surface of a product and neglect the story of its making. The continued purchase of products without any local production creates a sense of insecurity about local capacity. Local culture binds a community together.

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