About
This clay tile workshop explores the powerful connections between heritage, identity and surface design. Drawing inspiration from Malene’s book, Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practice of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers, you will discover how to create meaningful patterns rooted in your ancestry and cultural history.
During this hands-on session, you will decorate tiles that tell your personal story. We’ll explore techniques for translating family stories and cultural memories into surface patterns, then apply these designs directly onto tiles using surface decoration techniques. In the process, you will uncover personal symbols, stories and motifs from your heritage, transforming them into contemporary tile designs that honour your roots while expressing your unique creative voice.
Leave with decorated tiles ready for firing and practical methods for continuing this heritage-inspired design practice in your own work. Perfect for makers wanting to infuse their projects with deeper cultural meaning and personal significance. No prior experience necessary – just bring curiosity about your own story and heritage.
Offered in partnership with the City of Toronto and Toronto History Museums
Learn more about Malene’s presentation event and purchasing her book, Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practice of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers.
About Malene Barnett
Malene Djenaba Barnett is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild. Working across ceramics, textiles and mixed media, her practice explores themes of identity, memory and the African Caribbean diaspora. Drawing on ancestral traditions and contemporary narratives, Barnett weaves together personal and collective histories through form, pattern and material. She holds an MFA in Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art & Architecture and has been recognized with a Fulbright award, residencies at leading arts institutions and exhibitions nationwide. Her recent book, Crafted Kinship: Inside the Creative Practice of Contemporary Black Caribbean Makers, highlights the creative legacies and practices of makers across the Caribbean.
Her incised ceramic vessels and architectural installations, woven portraits and photo-based collages have been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Museum of the African Diaspora, Kingston Biennale at the National Gallery of Jamaica, African American Museum of Dallas, Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami), the Museum of Science + Industry Sugar Hill Museum and Temple Contemporary. Her art and design work have been featured in The New York Times, Galerie, ELLE Decor, Architectural Digest, Departures and Interior Design, and on television in Room to Inspire (Magnolia Network, HBO Max). Barnett’s works are in private and public collections that include Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) and National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). She has given numerous artist talks and panel discussions for international audiences, including the Rhode Island School of Design, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), the Bemis Center, Greenwich House Pottery, the Affordable Art Fair, the 92nd St Y, University of the West Indies and Design Caribbean.
She has participated in residencies at Anderson Ranch, Watershed, Greenwich House Pottery, Judson Studios and Haystack. In 2024, she was the Nellie Mae Rowe Distinguished Fellow at the Hambidge Center in Georgia.
Dates & Times
Venue
Craft & Design StudioOffered in partnership with
