Dr Melanie Sarantou’s PhD thesis investigated postcolonial Namibian craft and design identities in the areas of fashion, jewellery and textile design. Her study holistically mapped Namibian craft and design requiring extensive fieldwork in southern Africa. Through a postcolonial lens, the artefact making worlds of Namibia is illustrated while the challenges of maintaining sustainable creative practices are presented. Melanie’s research interests include the roles of narrativity, identities and improvisation in artefact making of marginalised women. During her career as a Namibian fashion designer Melanie produced and exhibited more than fifty fashion collections and art exhibitions internationally and her fashion design is based on the premise that fashion is art. In this project Melanie will focus on her research interests as part of her postdoctoral studies while she will participate in art and narrative processes during the workshops, co-curating exhibitions and installations with the research team and communities.