Arts and Humanities

The aim of the research study is to carve sustainable business strategies for the fashion communities in Ethiopia and Ukraine which are suffering today due to ever-increasing share of fast fashion consumerism. Fashion houses and international brands propagandize sustainability and consumption for better consumer base, where as originally sustainable local-based craftsmen still stay in the shade. Four communities/local designers are selected from the countries through the method of purposive sampling. Qualitative analysis is the basis of the research as we performed personal interviews and in-depth analysis of the communities to diagnose the problems and subsequently devise the solutions. In this research, we have studied and analyzed the problems faced by hereditary communities and ethnic designers in small and medium scale enterprise sector from two emerging economies. After the grounding the difficulties faced we advised strategies for sustainable future growth to the companies. The current academic literature on small and medium scale enterprises highlights the problems and solutions for general industry sectors. This paper brings attention to fashion communities and designers who promote national heritage and are struggling to survive in emerging economies due to indus-trialization and globalization. Moreover the comparison of the two geographies is unique in nature.

" Rebecca Caines, Rachelle Viader Knowles, Judy Anderson. QR Codes and Traditional Beadwork: Augmented Communities Improvising Together.  M/C Journal, Vol. 16, No. 6 (2013) - 'augment'. Vol. 16, No. 6 (2013)

Abstract:
This paper analyses Canadian intermedia artists Viader Knowles and Anderson’s 2012 work Paralell Words, Intersecting Moments.  The paper will include insights from the two artists, and from audience members and participants.  In this work audiences were required to find a partner, scan two QR codes made from intricate traditional Aboriginal beadwork with personal mobile devices, and then watch two interacting online video stories about Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal interactions with technology. The process was an intimate, interrupted, mis-firing improvisation as artists learned/taught beadwork; as storytellers filmed the stories together; and as audience members paired up, successfully or unsuccessfully downloaded a QR code reader onto their phones to scan the code and find and sync the paired and interacting videos; and physically wrapped themselves around their partner (often a stranger, sometimes with a borrowed device) in order to listen. This paper argues that augmented reality artists like these can use the improvisatory to build in ethical, cross-community interaction /participation whilst exposing social, economic and cultural faultlines. """"