Design + Restorative Justice research and practice
“The eye contact just invited me to really try and let go of everything else and just find that sense of connection with you”
- Dancer, Turnings workshop
Furoshiki - wrapping cloths
A set of wrapping cloths in the style of Japanese Furoshiki.
Handmade by me as part of thinking through making my doctoral research.
The cloths co-creatively investigated solidarity and gifting in restorative justice encounters.
Specifically, solidarities expressed through bodily and material symbols, such as through movement, gesture and material objects.
Images of completed wrapping cloths and the co-creative design process with research participants.
The role of the gift and movement in restorative justice
The oral and visual responses of research participants were printed and embroidered onto the wrapping cloths.
“Rather than the shoulder being touched, the shoulders became exploring what can we do, where can we move, and there was a circular turning, turning, turning, turning pattern that seemed to somehow ... make space for something new to come ... something different can now emerge ... a sense of leaving behind what had come before”
- Dancer, Turnings workshop, speaking about the role of movement in restorative justice processes
“Tangible artefact, tangible object, tangible thing, tangible item, tangible expression, imbibed with meaning, when saying sorry’s not enough, reminder, capturing all that stuff that’s in the air into one thing, useful thing, living thing, obligation, beyond just the moment in time, symbol of transition, symbolic, acknowledgement of the harm, visualisation of the harm, permanent recognition of the harm, echoes of a good experience, a place the person harmed can go to, connection, tool, reflective tool, thing to bring us back, very positive thing, something that might help with the moving on process, embodiment, strengths-based piece, repair piece, potential additional shaming, positive self-representation, draws the experience forward, concrete closure, ongoing, perpetual impact, handing off, cycle, arc, reciprocal, entanglement, cultural, defines the rite of passage, legacy for the community, caring forward”
- Words used by interviewees to describe the role of the gift in restorative justice processes
