A Practice-Based Study of Students' Lived Experience in Ernesto Aroztegui's Weaving Workshop - Master of Arts Thesis

Aug 21, 2026

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This thesis examines lived experience connected to Ernesto Aroztegui’s weaving workshop in Uruguay from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s, situated within a period of sociopolitical upheaval. With limited prior research on the movement and its participants, the study centers on former students to identify which elements of their experiences remain accessible today. Using a phenomenological lens and practice-based methods, it combines semi-structured interviews with an autoethnography of participation, highlighting conversation, the demanding practice, and a sustained sense of community across changing contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages390

Reading Time16 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Chapter 1: Introduction

Late 20th Century Tapestry: Teaching and Making

A Practice-Based Study of Students'Lived Experience in Ernesto Aroztegui's Weaving Workshop(mid 1960s-mid 1980s) by Lucia Gago Ross A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Material Culture Department of Human EcologyUniversity of Alberta Lucia Gago Ross,2024 Abstract The textile art movement of the 1960s to the 1980s in Uruguay was a remarkable phenomenon foracountry with no known textile tradition.Within the context of sociopolitical upheaval which characterizedthis time-period,Ernesto Aroztegui's workshop had a central role in the flourishing of the movement.Asone of the pioneers in Uruguayan textile art,Aroztegui approached tapestry-weaving understanding thedesigner and the weaver to be embodied by the same person,moving away from more traditional takes onthe craft.This notion,which he later passed on to his students,was influenced by the way post-WorldWar Ⅱ Polish weavers like Abakanowicz,Sadley,and Owidzka worked as well as the experience ofEgyptian architect Wissa Wassef teaching tapestry-weaving to children in Harrania.The lack of originalresearch done on the textile art movement of Uruguay and its participants,however,has left it in the dark.Focusing on Aroztegui's students,the purpose of this research project is to consider what aspects of thoseoriginal lived experiences can still be accessed today,thus giving the textile art movement its duerecognition by fostering a conversation about it.The research questions that guided the work were two:What are Aroztegui's former students'lived experiences of attending his workshop during the 1960s-1980s?How does my lived experience of being a student in an iteration of that workshop correspond withthose individuals'lived experiences?Looking at the research topic through a phenomenological lens,asemi-structured interview was designed to access the lived experience of the participants.The practice-based approach I took to the research,in the shape ofan autoethnography of my participation in aniteration of Aroztegui's weaving workshop taught by one of his former students,allowed me to considermy own lived experience and develop my position as researcher.Because of it I became less ofanoutsider in connection to the research topic.This two-fold approach shortened the distance between theparticipants'lived experience then and mine now,opening a space of reflection around the textile artmovement and its legacy.A sensible approach to the weaving workshop emerged from the participants'lived experience as well as from my own.That sensibility appeared as an inherent part of how theworkshop was,and stillis,led.Other components like the enriching conversation,the demanding natureof the weaving practice,and the overall sense of camaraderie were also identified as essential to how the weaving workshop was,and still is,understood.The nature of Aroztegui's workshop was characterizedby these components,as was also the iteration of the workshop I participated in.Even though thesociopolitical context varied drastically(from a time of sociopolitical unrest during the 1960s-1980s tocurrent times as I conducted this research project from 2022 to 2024),it did not affect the strong sense ofbelonging—of being part of a community—the weaving workshop nurtured,and nurtures,in people.Bylooking at Aroztegui's students'lived experience of attending his weaving workshop and consideringthem alongside my own lived experience,this research project brought the textile art movement closer topresent time.The fluidity inherent to lived experience makes the outcome of this research project not astatic thing,but an opening into spaces of discussion about the textile art movement,alongside everythingit entailed,with the potential to keep growing. # Preface This thesis is an original work by Lucia Gago Ross.The research project,of which this thesis is apart,received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics

FAQs

What research questions guide the study?

The thesis asks what former Aroztegui students’ lived experiences were when attending the workshop during the 1960s–1980s, and how the author’s lived experience of participating in a later iteration corresponds to those experiences.

What methodology does the thesis use to access lived experience?

Guided by a phenomenological perspective, the work uses semi-structured interviews. It also employs a practice-based approach through autoethnography of the author’s participation in a workshop taught by a former student.

How does the thesis connect the workshop’s legacy to the present?

By comparing former students’ experiences with the author’s own, the study brings the textile art movement closer to contemporary time. It emphasizes that the outcome opens spaces for ongoing discussion rather than forming a static conclusion.

Aug 21, 2026

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