Introducing TOSH Creative Hub: Meet the Host, Emilie Giles

The Autumn season is decidedly upon us, and with it comes that "back to school" mindset we're all familiar with. Low on enthusiasm? We've got you covered. With our Creative Hub nights back in full swing, you can reclaim your motivation and gain new found inspiration among our like-minded community of creatives! Intrigued? Get a feel for what's in store with the words of our wonderful host and inspiring practitioner, Emilie Giles.

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Who are you?

My name is Emilie Giles and I run the Creative Community Hub sessions at TOSH. I'm also a Senior Lecturer at the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) and have a personal practice and research focus around e-textiles, inclusion and maker culture.

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What brought you to TOSH?

We moved back to the south coast just over 2 years ago now and I wanted to connect with other creatives - for networking mostly, but I also saw that TOSH needed people to help run the Hub, and I thought, hey, this would be perfect!

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What do you love most about hosting the Creative Hub night?

Meeting new people and hearing their stories, whilst also seeing results and finding out how their practice and projects are developing. It's a joy to observe people's journeys, and hear their input.

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‍To whom would you recommend the Creative Hub

Anyone who has a creative thing they want to try, whether it's a new way of making, a business idea or they just want to share and get input from others. We're also always open to suggestions on what sessions could be run, so I'd always encourage people to get in touch with a wish list.

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What are you working on right now?

I've been working on an ongoing project with people who have a visual impairment to explore how computing programming can be more accessible, fun and creative. We’ve been using a microcontroller - which looks just like a circuit board but is in fact a mini computer - called the BBC Micro:bit. The participants have been programming in a computer language called python, some with the use of a screen reader to make it possible for them to hear their code back, as well as the learning materials. With the board you can do things like blink LEDs, generate sounds and spin motors! So essentially it is a tool for interaction design.

The work builds on my PhD research where I worked with participants who have a visual impairment to make interactive wall-hangings that told a personal story or association they had. The participants all led on their own making from the design process, to the crafting, to even embedding electronics into fabric.

My current research is now focused more on the technology, and how skills like programming could come into the process too. For me, this is so important as the arts and technology field is very visual based, meaning some people get left behind. I think everyone should be able to engage with and use these tools to make and create.

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Learn more about Emilie here.

emiliegiles.co.uk