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Winning hearts and minds Grant Gibson Craft may no longer need protection but it certainly requires promotion This has undoubtedly been a good moment for craft, but we shouldn’t be complacent ICOTT CALD BY KAREN IT PORTRA ‘I feel I can say goodbye to craft because it is so pervasive, persistent and multiple. The power of making is around us for all to see. It doesn’t need help from the likes of me,’ writes Glenn Adamson in a valedictory piece to the crafts world (p.38). As you would expect, he makes a strong case for why the sector no longer requires any special pleading – outlining the reasons makers are no longer ‘dismissed as amateurs, hippie throwbacks or wannabe “real artists”.’ While I respect his position, I can’t help feeling he’s being ever so slightly premature. Without doubt the connotations round the word ‘craft’ have changed. Its perceived values are being used (and often exploited) by large brands in ways unthinkable a few years ago. It has become de rigueur at design shows to have areas devoted to making and as our stories on Barnaby Barford (p.32) and Kate MccGwire (p.40) adroitly illustrate, material expertise is once again fundamental to the fine art world. And yet old prejudices still persist. Perhaps this was best illustrated in an intriguing edition of Start the Week, broadcast in November, to coincide with the 175th anniversary of the Royal College of Art. One of the guests, designer Ron Arad, said he had his work made in Italy because it ‘has an amazing tradition of craftsmanship that you don’t have here’. On page 25, Robin Wood, wood-turner and chair of the Heritage Crafts Association, takes issue with this assertion, suggesting that Britain definitely has the skills but that as a nation we tend to ignore them until it’s too late. For all the rhetoric about British design and craft moving closer together, the pair’s contrasting positions would indicate that a significant gap very definitely still exists. In my opinion Adamson is right to suggest that craft no longer needs special protection, but it still requires concerted promotion. And nowhere is this more obvious than in education, where, along with other creative and technical subjects, it is conspicuous by its absence on the government’s English Baccalaureate. Given the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s stated desire to see a ‘Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers,’ this seems at best economically shortsighted, at worst plain foolhardy. This has undoubtedly been a good moment for craft, but we shouldn’t be complacent. Attitudes are changing, yet there are still plenty of minds to be won over before the nation’s makers gain the widespread recognition and acceptance they are due. Glenn Adamson’s crusade might be over but a battle continues. Crafts magazine is published bi-monthly by the Crafts Council. Crafts does not accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. The views expressed in Crafts are not necessarily those of the Crafts Council. The Crafts Council is committed to equal opportunities. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest from the world of craft: www.facebook.com/craftsmagazine www.twitter.com/craftsmagazine EDITORIAL TEL 020 7806 2538 FAX 020 7837 0858 crafts@craftscouncil.org.uk EDITOR Grant Gibson g_gibson@craftscouncil.org.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR Teleri Lloyd-Jones t_lloyd-jones@craftscouncil.org.uk SUB EDITOR Mark Sinker m_sinker@craftscouncil.org.uk WEBSITE NEWS EDITOR Diana Woolf d_woolf@craftscouncil.org.uk DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION Stephen Coates, Henrietta Molinaro info@stephencoates.co.uk PUBLISHER Keith Grosvenor 020 7806 2539 k_grosvenor@craftscouncil.org.uk ADVERTISING DISPLAY, CLASSIFIED AND CRAFTS GUIDE Publishing Matters Charlotte Hollingshead 01395 576829 chollingshead@publishingmatters.co.uk ORIGINATION AND PRINTING Dawkins Colour Ltd, London, and Buxton Press Ltd ADVERTISING PRODUCTION PH Media SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS OFFICER Polly Benford 020 7806 2542 subscriptions@craftscouncil.org.uk SALES AND MARKETING OFFICER Kristin Crilly 020 7806 2541 k_crilly@craftscouncil.org.uk DISTRIBUTION Comag Specialist Division, (01895) 433800, Central Books (0845) 4589925, Crafts magazine 44a Pentonville Road, London N1 9BY, UK REGD CHARITY No.280956 TEL 020 7278 7700 www.craftscouncil.org.uk ISSN No: 0306-610X CRAFTS JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2013 3

Winning hearts and minds Grant Gibson Craft may no longer need protection but it certainly requires promotion

This has undoubtedly been a good moment for craft, but we shouldn’t be complacent

ICOTT

CALD

BY KAREN

IT

PORTRA

‘I feel I can say goodbye to craft because it is so pervasive, persistent and multiple. The power of making is around us for all to see. It doesn’t need help from the likes of me,’ writes Glenn Adamson in a valedictory piece to the crafts world (p.38). As you would expect, he makes a strong case for why the sector no longer requires any special pleading – outlining the reasons makers are no longer ‘dismissed as amateurs, hippie throwbacks or wannabe “real artists”.’

While I respect his position, I can’t help feeling he’s being ever so slightly premature. Without doubt the connotations round the word ‘craft’ have changed. Its perceived values are being used (and often exploited) by large brands in ways unthinkable a few years ago. It has become de rigueur at design shows to have areas devoted to making and as our stories on Barnaby Barford (p.32) and Kate MccGwire (p.40) adroitly illustrate, material expertise is once again fundamental to the fine art world. And yet old prejudices still persist.

Perhaps this was best illustrated in an intriguing edition of Start the Week, broadcast in November, to coincide with the 175th anniversary of the Royal College of Art. One of the guests, designer Ron Arad, said he had his work made in Italy because it ‘has an amazing tradition of craftsmanship that you don’t have here’.

On page 25, Robin Wood, wood-turner and chair of the Heritage Crafts Association, takes issue with this assertion, suggesting that Britain definitely has the skills but that as a nation we tend to ignore them until it’s too late. For all the rhetoric about British design and craft moving closer together, the pair’s contrasting positions would indicate that a significant gap very definitely still exists.

In my opinion Adamson is right to suggest that craft no longer needs special protection, but it still requires concerted promotion. And nowhere is this more obvious than in education, where, along with other creative and technical subjects, it is conspicuous by its absence on the government’s English Baccalaureate. Given the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s stated desire to see a ‘Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers,’ this seems at best economically shortsighted, at worst plain foolhardy.

This has undoubtedly been a good moment for craft, but we shouldn’t be complacent. Attitudes are changing, yet there are still plenty of minds to be won over before the nation’s makers gain the widespread recognition and acceptance they are due.

Glenn Adamson’s crusade might be over but a battle continues.

Crafts magazine is published bi-monthly by the Crafts Council. Crafts does not accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. The views expressed in Crafts are not necessarily those of the Crafts Council. The Crafts Council is committed to equal opportunities.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest from the world of craft: www.facebook.com/craftsmagazine www.twitter.com/craftsmagazine

EDITORIAL TEL 020 7806 2538 FAX 020 7837 0858 crafts@craftscouncil.org.uk

EDITOR Grant Gibson g_gibson@craftscouncil.org.uk ASSISTANT EDITOR Teleri Lloyd-Jones t_lloyd-jones@craftscouncil.org.uk SUB EDITOR Mark Sinker m_sinker@craftscouncil.org.uk WEBSITE NEWS EDITOR Diana Woolf d_woolf@craftscouncil.org.uk

DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION Stephen Coates, Henrietta Molinaro info@stephencoates.co.uk

PUBLISHER Keith Grosvenor 020 7806 2539 k_grosvenor@craftscouncil.org.uk

ADVERTISING DISPLAY, CLASSIFIED AND CRAFTS GUIDE Publishing Matters Charlotte Hollingshead 01395 576829 chollingshead@publishingmatters.co.uk

ORIGINATION AND PRINTING Dawkins Colour Ltd, London, and Buxton Press Ltd ADVERTISING PRODUCTION PH Media

SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS OFFICER Polly Benford 020 7806 2542 subscriptions@craftscouncil.org.uk SALES AND MARKETING OFFICER Kristin Crilly 020 7806 2541 k_crilly@craftscouncil.org.uk

DISTRIBUTION Comag Specialist Division, (01895) 433800, Central Books (0845) 4589925,

Crafts magazine 44a Pentonville Road, London N1 9BY, UK REGD CHARITY No.280956 TEL 020 7278 7700 www.craftscouncil.org.uk ISSN No: 0306-610X

CRAFTS JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2013 3

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