Maiko Tsutsumi studied furniture making and Japanese lacquer work in Kyoto before moving to London to study furniture design at the Royal College of Art and later completing her practice based PhD The Poetics of Everyday Objects. After leaving the furniture industry She was course leader role for MA Designer Maker at Camberwell College of Arts, until 2020, alongside making objects, curating exhibitions and writing.

She now works in her studio in Peckham, making objects from wood, ceramic and lacquer. We spoke about her approach to making, where it stems from and how it manifests now in a measured approach engaging deeply with the materials she works with and seeking certain qualities from it. We weren't going to talk about kintsugi, and then ended up talking about it anyway!

• Maiko Tsutsumi website

These podcasts have been kindly supported by funding from CCW Research (University of the Arts London) and the Centre for Circular Design.

Simon Fleury originally trained as a photographer, making and developing physical photographs. He came to conservation incidentally, training on the job and transitioning from technical worker to become a conservator.

Simon and I met at Victoria and Albert Museum back in 2018 when I was artist in residence there. Our conversation here is about Simon’s work on exploring the pioneering practices of curator Richard Redgrave and the photographic condition documentation of the Raphael cartoons.

Richard Redgrave worked at the South Kensington Museum (as the V&A was known then), and around 1864 he produced a series of annotated photographs of the Raphael cartoons. In producing these ‘condition reports’ he began a method still in use by conservators today.

We also talk about Simon’s work on adapting perspectives and thinking around contemporary conservation work.

• Victoria and Albert Museum blog: Mattering: Richard Redgrave and the curious practice of drawing on museum objects - written by Simon Fleury
• Victoria and Albert Museum blog: Back to te Future: Revisiting the Richard Redgraves Condition Reports
• Museum of Care
• The Raphael Cartoons · V&A

These podcasts have been kindly supported by funding from CCW Research (University of the Arts London) and the Centre for Circular Design. Thanks also to porject manager Meghan Hutchins and illustrator Debbie Powell.

Mariah Nielson’s background as an architect has informed her work as a curator and design historian. She worked as curator at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, (2009–2011) and as director of the JB Blunk Residency (2007–2011). In 2013, she completed an MA in Design History at the Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Mariah also co-founded the design brand Permanent Collection.

We talk about how she now cares for and stewards her fathers estate, work and legacy, in her role as director of the JB Blunk estate and Blunk Space; living in the home her father built, and conserving a home and archive situated in the woods.

• JB Blunk estate Instagram
• JB Blunk website
• Mariah's instagram
• Mariah Nielson's website

Thanks as always to CCW Research and the Centre for Circular Design who funded this podcast, project manager Meghan Hutchins and illustrator Debbie Powell who helped bring it to life.