The lace programme at the Gozo Campus

Abstract

During the past fifty years, while observing the decline of the Gozo lace industry, nobody seemed to notice that the weak point lay in the absence of lace education. Lace making was regarded as a means of using up free time during the day in the role of unemployed females from which a little subsistence was gained to help the family income. When the industrial estate in Xewkija opened in the 1970s providing jobs mainly for females, the lace industry took its fatal blow after having already suffered from the surge of mass emigration in the 1960s. During the 1990s, the then Minister of Gozo, Mr Anton Tabone was of the opinion that lace making should be taught on an academic level as a subject at the Gozo Campus because of its particular roots on this island. Mr Tabone also took the initiative to discuss the matter with the University authorities. As a result, in 1998 a Lacemaking Programme was setup. The aim of the Programme is to provide lace education to all strata of society, be they workers or merchants, male or female, young or old, to teach the craft, as well as lace design and ancillary studies including lace history. Traditional techniques are taught, as these are associated with Gozo’s identity, but modern approaches and design also form part of the teaching programme.