CELEBRATING FINE CRAFT

ARTICLES: 2007 - A Tipping Point in Canadian Craft History?

Written by: Jennifer E. Salahub, Phd.
April 26, 2008

My agenda was in place even before agreeing to review NeoCraft: Modernity and the Crafts as I had been looking for evidence of a commitment to the cause - to craft - something that would tell posterity that Craft Year 2007 was indeed a "tipping point" in Canadian craft history. After committing to the review it became apparent that proponents of craft were indeed engaged and our celebrated Canadian reticence was nowhere in evidence. This past year witnessed a number of events including the launch of innumerable web sites, craft blogs and virtual craft galleries. In Calgary, ACAD organized a craft symposium Invisible/Visible to welcome the American Craft Organization Development Association (CODA) which was meeting in Canada for the first time; in Halifax, NSCAD organized an international forum for craft - NeoCraft - an academic conference designed to unite makers and academics. 2007 was also a banner year for publications which saw not only NeoCraft, but two other anthologies as well - Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice and Craft: Practice and Perception Vol. III and finally the much anticipated bilingual Canadian journal, Cahiers métiers d'art Craft Journal went to press.

This review, which now looks at the three anthologies, will not spend a great deal of time discussing the more than sixty individual contributions - rather it will consider where these texts fit within the history of the literature and what they have to say about the state and direction of craft studies in Canada. In each of the three new anthologies, the editors have judiciously combined previously published and newly crafted essays with the specific intention of promoting the expanding discourses that surround craft practice, history, theory, material culture, curatorial practice, and critical writing. Reading the three texts concurrently was not only entertaining, but also provided the means to examine the current discourse - mixing and matching - comparing and contrasting the various editorial approaches and selections. It was a pleasure to discern in this conversational cacophony the familiar tones of established historians, critics, and artists as well as identifying the tenor of a new generation who is quickly finding a voice. All three of these texts are a worthwhile, even entertaining, read and will serve as valuable reference tools for all interested in Canadian craft, craft history and craft theory.

NeoCraft: Modernity and the Crafts (2007) was published in conjunction with the NeoCraft conference hosted by the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in November 2007. Having attended the three-day event, and given that there were five concurrent streams, I was curious to discover what had been included and what I might have missed! As Dr. Sandra Alfoldy was the organizing force behind both the conference and the text I knew it would be an exciting publication with a clear editorial voice - essential in an anthology dealing with this contested area of study. Further, I had identified this text as a marker - a sign that craft was taking its responsibilities as an academic discipline seriously (the text was published by an academic press) - and was documenting its course in Canada.

In the Introduction, Alfoldy defines "NeoCraft" as "an alternative method for assessing craft, where the diverse interdisciplinary models used to discuss craft are united to work together in solidifying the discourse of craft history, theory and critical writing." Here is a text that will serve not only those currently fascinated by the relationship between craft and modernity but those who question why this continues to be such a point of contention in what is assuredly a post-modern world! The burgeoning interest in craft is reflected in the academic credentials of the contributors from the greater academic community - art history, history, material culture, design history, anthropology, critical studies and craft history. These authors hail from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Sweden and they embrace historic and theoretical issues that span three centuries and several continents. The essays are divided into five central themes: Cultural Redundancy or the Genre Under Threat; Global Craft; Crafts and Political Economy; Invention of Tradition: Craft and Utopian Ideals; and Craft, the Senses, and New Technology.

Somewhat disappointingly, few of the essays discuss Canadian craft; however, It must be noted that NeoCraft was published in conjunction with the Halifax conference and was not intended to be a compilation of the conference papers - nor was it limited to the works of the key note speakers. The decision to publish this selection speaks to a growing self-confidence - for if we are to be part of the international community of craft we must expect to cross international boundaries and invite the speculative gaze. In his paper, art historian David Brian Howard takes on the Regina Five, funk ceramics, Emma Lake and Greenbergian aesthetics in an unlikely, but ultimately provocative, study "Making Space for Clay?: Ceramics Regionalism, and Postmodernism in Regina, Saskatchewan". Nonetheless, I would like to see the papers presented by Canadian craft practitioners, theorists, therapists, curators and educators at the NeoCraft conference documented - so others can benefit from this wealth of research and breadth of topics.

The contributors to and content of Craft: Perception and Practice and Utopic Images: Contemporary Ceramics Practices are more Canadian (authors and content), more contemporary and more controversial. Utopic Impulses is a self-reflexive theoretical look at contemporary ceramics - if this sounds daunting - it is not. The three editors, Amy Gogarty, Mireille Perron and Ruth Chambers are practicing artists, respected educators and writers. Their enthusiasm and "shared belief that craft practices - in this case, ceramics - contribute to the development, support and diffusion of speculative models and creative endeavours that envision a better world" underpins the text and is reiterated in their choice of participants and editorial essays.

For the reader, the utopic impulses take the form of ten critical essays (written by artists who "believe that their histories, theories and activities are too important to leave to others to record") and twenty artist projects - each exploring ceramics as a socially responsible practice. The essays are divided into three sub-themes: Explicating Histories, Generating Theory and Performing Activism. This is an exciting and generous format and readers are encouraged to travel to new regions and re-position their thinking about contemporary craft, its makers and their histories. Utopic Impulses: contemporary Ceramic Practices will be of particular interest to craft practitioners - for although the contributors are curators, writers, educators and critics - it is as practicing artists that they are contributing to current issues and discourses. In "Craftism: Re-evaluating the Links Between Craft and Social Activism" Nicole Burisch provides an historical context for craftism and identifies several degrees of "revolutionary" activity - from manifestos to knitting circles. In his illustrated essay Regina's Rory MacDonald argues that his practice creates a dialogue of public critique. Casting small sections of the cracked and chipped concrete curbs of Regina he creates site specific "patches" of blue and white glazed earthenware. Curb Works cover the damaged curb thereby drawing attention to the fragility of the physical and emotional edges that contain the marginalized areas of an urban environment. Clearly the contributors to Utopic Impulses are taking an active voice in contemporary craft discourse - whether their engagement is through remediation, craftism, slow activism or Relational Aesthetics.

Craft Perception and Practice: A Canadian Discourse Vol. III brings together a broader variety of craft topics include decoration, domesticity, modernity, technology and meaning as they relate to various media - ceramics, fibre, metal, glass, wood and new materials. According to the editors Nisse Gustafson, Amy Gogarty and the late Paula Gustafson (editor of the first two volumes of this series), the anthology is an attempt to "catch many of the new voices in craft in an attempt to chart - if not the future - at least as accurate a picture as possible of the energy, diversity and sheer intellectual challenge posed by those who animate the field today."

Practitioners, writers, educators and curators have contributed essays which are divided into five themes: Pattern and Perception; Ideas into Actions; Laying Foundations; Concepts in Form and Drawing on the Personal. Many of these articles were previously published (within the last few years), but it should be remembered that exhibition reviews and conference papers are elusive - so they will be new to most of the readers. Craft practitioners are, by definition, teachers - whether it is in the studio or in the classroom - they seduce us with their narratives, their histories. Thus even the most esoteric of subjects becomes enjoyable and informative. In Sandra Alfoldy's "Craft and the Semiotics of Pattern: A Feminist Perspective" a baby's Burberry scarf provides a delightful introduction to the semiotics of pattern.

As a remarkable textile artist and a teller of stories Ruth Scheuing's essay "Flowers and Leaves: Constructing Nature" moves beyond a discussion of the artist's practice as we are introduced to the controversy that underpins her process. The ongoing relationship between craft and technology is examined through a discussion of how new technology has been received. Moving from the 18th C jacquard loom (known as the "earliest computer") and 19th C photographic processes she segues into the present debate that surrounds the use of the electronic Jacquard loom and Photoshop by contemporary artists and craft practitioners. By doing so, Scheuing provides not only insight into her own work but also a model for other artists to consider and historians to apply. While Scheuing works with new technologies, it is noteworthy that to all intents and purposes other authors appear to be celebrating their "inner-Luddite" as crafters take on DIY and slow activism!

Craft history is an object based discipline and Ronsdale Press (and the editors) must be commended for the quality and quantity of the colour illustrations - veritable galleries of contemporary Canadian craft. The images will serve as a seductive introduction to those new to craft and both anthologies feature gorgeous vessels on their covers. Sin-Ying Ho's Music (2004) on Utopic Impulses and Through the Glass (2006) by Lisa Samphire on the cover of Craft Perception and Practice are tributes to pattern and decoration and testaments to the traditional and innovative processes that mark their craft.

NeoCraft suffers by comparison, having a monochromatic cover (a detail of Hiving Mesh (1999- 02) a curtain of porcelain, stainless steel fittings, Lucite and wire by Neil Forrest) and black and white images - admittedly, a prime example of the modern aesthetic. In fact, it soon becomes evident that these are meant to take a secondary role - serving as supporting documentation - a body of historic photographs. Given the contents of the first essay, it is arguable that this lack of colour was a political stance on the part of the designer or editor. In his polemic article "Replacing the Myth of Modernism" originally published in American Craft (1993) Bruce Metcalf takes craft to task for its lack of a critical voice - citing the preponderance of photographs rather than text in craft publications as an indicator of a lack of academic engagement.

Fortunately the contents of all three texts show that in 2007 there was no lack of critical engagement - and the diversity found within the articles reveals that there is a broad based interest in Canadian craft - both as a focus of study and as a means of engagement. What these texts make apparent is that craft studies in Canada are, at the very least, a model for multi-disciplinarity! What we have here is a rich body of primary and secondary sources! It is fascinating to consider that primary sources are to be found not only in 19th Century archives but also on the Internet (emails, blogs and artists' websites). As an academic I find myself particularly intrigued with the state of the literature - what has been written and when and what form it has taken. The "Why here?" and "Why now?" In other words, why three anthologies, and what does this say about the direction of craft today?

In Canada, craft appears to have a short academic history - we are indeed a country with a visual history that has only recently been mined - and those findings have yet to be fully analyzed. Nonetheless, recent academic publications have shown that Canadian craft has a long institutional history (if not memory) - consider Ellen Easton McLeod's In Good Hands: The Women of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild (1999); Sandra Flood's Canadian Craft and Museum Practice 1900-1950 (2001); and Sandra Alfoldy's Crafting Identity: The Development of Professional Fine Craft in Canada (2005). What is remarkable is that these authors dedicated years to undertake meticulous primary research in Canadian museums and archives - and their resulting histories, and in particular the bibliographies, show that craft in Canada did indeed have a history of critical engagement. Yet, even as it acknowledges the wealth of text, this same research highlights the lacuna - the gaps. Historically, Canadian art and craft journals and magazines are notoriously under represented in bibliographic indexes but what becomes obvious from this research is that they are also missing from public collections - library shelves. Further, exhibition catalogues, trade journals, society newsletters, exhibition reports and newspapers reviews were seldom collected or if collected, were likely to be de-accessioned as they were under-utilized - a vicious circle if one is unaware of their existence. (And the subject for another paper!)

What I would like to suggest is that the publication of these three texts - NeoCraft: Modernity and the Crafts, Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practices, and Craft Perception and Practice: A Canadian Discourses III has played a marked role in pre-empting history from repeating itself. By amassing these essays in book form the editors have made this information permanent and available to a broad readership. Here we see the visual manifestation of commitment to the cause - craft - and record keeping in a most palatable form with well illustrated, well researched, well written and well edited text. It is, of course, too premature to judge whether 2007 was indeed a "tipping point" in the history of Canadian craft; nonetheless, we have never seen it in a more vibrant state - and these three anthologies are an indication of a healthy future.