Many respondents came up with the problems that beset the field of craft.
The problem with ‘craft'
The word 'craft' has a connotation of being a traditional past-time without being very relevant to today's society. This negative connotation has discouraged craftspeople from excelling in their field and also beginning a career in a craft. The term 'craft' needs to be updated for it to be accepted and taken seriously in today's society.
Some responded with a call to action.
We need to shake things up.
I feel very frustrated with the craft world in Sydney due to a lack of critical debate. The jewellery that is being produced and supported by prominent organisations is mostly conservative and does not engage in a reflection and reaction to the discipline itself. It seems that contemporary practitioners like to associate craft with art but are not prepared to have any opinions of movements within craft. Are we really content to look at seed pearl clusters under the guise of contemporary jewellery? The work is so often boring and insipid and yet everyone seems too scared to say so because the community is so small. Fashion jewellery is more reactive and exciting that contemporary craft jewellery - I feel like we need a shake up!
Craft as a salutary corrective
I would like to see craft cast off any defensiveness about its role and importance. Given the increasing commodification of human activity and human time in our present society, craft has never been more compelling, more indispensable. Though its role is not merely political or ideological, it does provide a salutary corrective to such commodification.
Old fashioned
I really don't like the term craft, perhaps design would suit better...Craft sounds like something the CWA is knitting up...
What about traditional crafts?
I wonder if the gap in acknowledging so many generations of traditional craft particularly in regional Victoria is at all indicative of the similar reasons that women painters were not acknowledged for several generations, or perhaps also because of isolation and some bias against regional areas. Perhaps it is also indicative of a silent bias or discrimination against such traditional crafts. Perhaps the opinions of the general public are brushing off on artistic experts - the general public are throwing generations of highly skilled craft in the bins, or sending them to opportunity shops. I wouldn't mind if traditional crafts were crap, however it seems that the contemporaries are being hailed with credits for subverting these crafts will less craft based skills than the experts that come before them. It seems to me that 'someone' forgot to acknowledge the traditional crafts for their excellence before they moved on to subverting their meaning.
Find new ways
Craft is gaining increased general interest as technology loses its novelty value and becomes more seamlessly integrated into our lives. Also, young craftspeople (and some older ones too) are able to harmoniously integrate the handmade with the digital, or use a digitally-savvy mindset as a new basis for appreciating the handmade. It isn't constructive to doggedly cling to the 'old ways', rather we should keep their beauty alive within a contemporary framework.
Popular culture
i think the most important aspect of the growth of craft is it's link to popular culture - and the reawakened interest in the punk aesthetic of DIY... make your own music, clothes, art, literature, technology this is vibrant and allows for a continuance of craft at a grass roots level, keeping it too high falutin' means it loses it's edge, it's the frisson created between the energy, aesthetics and intimacy with new technology of the young and the experience and skill of older makers that keeps craft relevant to contemporary culture.
Sign of the times
I like to see less differentiation around craft and art. The function of art/craft should be forward looking. Looking at past processes and skills but reworking and re-contextualising these in contemporary practice. The best craft/art is a reflection/critique of our times. The collaborative nature of craft, its links to touch, domesticity, women, hand-made and quality can be used to subvert the values of corporate capitalism - money, status & the individual.
For a large number of voices, craft has a critical role to play in contemporary culture.
On being hard to get…
I think craft is so important in the world today because everything is so available everywhere but the craft is still a way to express something without being mainstream... I LOVE CRAFT
Back in touch
In the increasing world of technology and change in which we live, it is always refreshing to get back to basics and create using your hands. The sense of touch, smell and the visual are experiences I don't think are easily replaced.
Hand in hand
Craft is vital to our sense of humanness in this ever changing world. If we are bombarded by the slick mass manufactured object on an ongoing basis then humankind looses the ability to appreciate the hand made object that is an extension of the race as a whole. Humanness and hands go together and so the handmade.
Changing times
The relevance for craft as a consumer with the vast majority is sadly decreasing - but I can see a backlash to mass produced design in the future and the relevance of craft re-emerging. Hopefully the skills and sensibilities will be preserved in the meantime. Craft still has relevance as a participant, though I think available leisure time has decreased. This does not necessarily preserve the skills base and appreciation of high end craft which requires a market for sustainability and to be supported in a vocation orientated education system.
The spirit lives
Craft today is alive and well. The human need to touch, smell, appreciate irregularity and support the work of individual endeavours is an essential and on going process. Craft is a word which captures how the human sprit interacts with our environment and resources.
Escape from the keyboard
I see a growing grass-roots level of interest in craft. Community classes are increasing in popularity, as are classes run by craft suppliers etc. At a professional level, there seems to be an increasing number of exhibitions and events featuring craft. In the institution in which I work (which runs evening community access classes), apart from teachers, the largest group are IT or ex IT workers...does this mean that they keyboard is not providing enough sense of accomplishment through hand use?
Responses from far corners of the world
From a New Zealand perspective
The above questions have been answered in a geological different frame of mind. The word 'craft' in New Zealand has become almost a dirty word. The snobbish value has replaced 'Craft' to 'Visual Arts' in most art disciplines. So i think the importance in the Craft area is decreasing and increasing into more disciplined areas where it becomes more specialised. The gap between 'craft' and 'visual arts' are becoming further apart, a bit like the rich and the poor. Craft in New Zealand has a retro value to it now. A somewhat traditional feel with a bit of new. So i have replaced the word craft in the questions to Visual Arts for myself, as i'm sure your Craft is our Visual Arts!!
And a lament from Mali
My constat it's pity for craft, in Africa in general particularly in Mali, peoples are more attracted by those things made by new technology, or machine. Example: in more than 80% family in Mali there house decoration you will find only object made by machine from Chinese, or Dubay and so....
Call from Britain
I do get annoyed that the Crafts Council in Britain is aiming craft more towards the fine art market and gift ware for smaller collectors. Craft is also about building and living and can be seen as having the potential for social and environmental change.
Passion for handcraft in Japan
My background is in the areas of Fashion and Textile Design and more recently I have been working as a Multimedia Designer and Artist. I am currently living in Japan and have found their craft traditions survive due to the rituals that surround them. In everyday life items are used and appreciated for their history and also for their personal meaning. As a result I have found many people in the younger generation have embraced many of the old craft traditions as well as western ones to produce their own craft subculture in which new traditions can develop and grow. Even in a culture seemingly overwhelmed by technology the passion for handcrafted objects remains strong and is pursued with as much passion and discipline as in the past. Craft is intrinsically entwined with culture and therefore its future is also bound by this, I feel that craft should be about invention, making items that are aesthetically pleasing and also useful in everyday life. If that means crocheting or knitting a cover for an ipod than so be it, it is a functional work created for a specific purpose that signifies a certain time in history. I feel that Craft is far too often seen as the younger sibling of Art, that it is worth less and there seems to be, at least in Australia and possibly other Western countries, a stigma attached to the word. Or maybe it is just an overall confusion, I commend you on delving into this topic as it may just be its lack of definition that has led the general public to brand it in such a way. In closing I would like to say that I hope one day that 'Craft' is not a dirty word. Yours Sincerely Andrea Innocent
Craft skills in Nigeria
THE STATE OF ART TODAY IT MAKE A DIFFERENT TO THE OLD ONE IN SENCE THAT NOW THE MODERN ONE WAS OUT WITH DIFFERENT STYLE OF DOING IT , SOME USE MODERN WAY TO DO WERE OTHER USE SKILL TO DO THERE OWN. LIKE WOOD CARVING WE ARE STILL USE MANUAL THAT IS WITH SKILL AND SENSE , ALL SO INDGO DYE WITH BATIK MAKING AND TRADTOINAL BATIK ,
Call to action
Opportunity for advancement
Survival of craft is dependent on good work being promoted and the maker constantly questioning and developing new work. It appears that the client is still supporting craft, industry is still ripping off ideas that have been developed in studios so craftspeople need to be moving ahead all the time. There is a developing market for very sophisticated craft with refined skill appealing to the art market through galleries such as Rex Irwin and Christine Abrahams eg: Prue Venables and Gwyn Hansen Piggot's work. This requires a different approach from the maker and relies on both advanced skill and concept.
To make is enough?
When it is for sale, some is too expensive, as many craft people think that their work is 'unique' so the public should pay a lot for it. True craft is done for enjoyment and the reimbursement should be sufficient, but not exorbitant. ART can be done for commercial profit, but art is NOT craft.
Design conformity
Craft does not receive the support and respect it deserves. Design is the favourite buzzword and everything is lumped into this category for the sake of gaining popularity.
To the barricades
It is appalling that the Australian gallery at Fed Square has no permanent display of Australian ceramics. Craft Vic should take a very strong position and lobby that this is completely unacceptable.
Keep going
Craft will never be a main stream activity - but then neither is writing, quality cooking, making art or designing new vehicles. Yet all these activities are integral for a healthy future in a dynamically evolving society. The act of making is very important activity for humans, and sustaining for those who practice it. I think for the few institutions who promote craft, and for the few individuals who make craft, it is wavering but healthy and needs to be supported as much as possible.
Sshhh!
I love being part of a quiet revolution!
For overall survey statistics, please go here.
Last modified 31-Oct-2005
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