Having spent a few more days thinking about the Craft Matters campaign the more strongly I feel that the Crafts Council should encourage a more inclusive definition of craft and its place in society.
As I said before, Craft is not just concerned with exquisite, hand made, bespoke objects. Though there is a need and place for work of that type in society, if craft is to matter when it comes to its recognition, promotion and support by governments, the public needs to know how craft affects them in almost every area of life.
As Glenn Adamson says, "Craft only exists in motion. It is a way of doing things, not a classification of objects, institutions or people"*
As such, both the midwife and the person that buries you are craft experts, they have developed the tacit knowledge and skills necessary to safely bring you into this world and to leave it with dignity. At every stage in between craft shapes our lives, it is what differentiates us from the other species on this planet. Craft has even helped to shape our bodies, both in an evolutionary sense and in the way our bodies are affected by physical activity.
In getting this message across a recent Radio 4, Point of View programme could be very helpful. It was the last of a series by Professor Lisa Jardine who used the example of crystallographer, Dorothy Hodgkin to demonstrate how science and the arts can both benefit through collaboration. Lisa jardine referred to a letter to the Observer signed by many eminent thinkers who are concerned that future government spending cuts will sacrifice the arts in favour of the sciences, a policy that appears extremely short-sighted.
Adamson, G. Thinking through Craft. Berg 2007, p4.
3 comments:
Dear Michael,
I'm from BBC Radio Cumbria. I run a feature on the Ian Timms Show called Little Cumbria...
Each week I ask three different people to keep a dairy for five consecutive days, to tell the story of their lives.
Each diary entry needs to be 130 words, which is roughly 45 seconds in length.
Once the diary is written, we then arrange a time to record it... And then I mix the three different diaries together with a narrator and theme music, and make a mini Cumbrian soap.
It runs Monday to Friday at 1745, and is now entering it's 35th week.
It's a bit of fun, and works really well, and for it to last I want to keep bringing new voices to the feature.
Would you willing to have a bash?
here are my contact details... I look forward to hearing from you,
Steven
Steven Greaves | BBC Radio Cumbria
Annetwell Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 8BB
tel: 01228 592444
e-mail: steven.greaves@bbc.co.uk
Hi Michael I agree with you that we need a larger understanding of craft - I asked in my blogpost for it to be "elevated to a grand spectrum containing everything from handwriting to plumbing" and I think midwifery is an excellent example.
I think your view is right and we should be emphasizing craft as a process rather than a definable set of objects. Sennett also proposes a more expensive definition, including computer programming and many other such activities. I am sure the CC must be worried by this position though, as it challenges their remit and therefore there existence, I like the idea of a mid wife and/or gravedigger getting front cover of crafts and/or a major award. Perhaps a radical new publication is needed!
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