Abstract
This research paper presented at the International Conference ‘Making Futures’ focused on the revival of crafts, their location in the cultural context of East Europe and assessed their role in reevaluating sustainable practices of making. It discussed the regeneration of the handmade in artisan communities as a self-sufficient model of production; and discussed craft as a cooperative system of making, sustaining traditional ways of life. The text highlighted the concept of the folk market as a potential tool for elevating the circulation of craft products in a ‘closed economy’. By using a combined ethnographic and empirical methodology the research explains the regeneration of the handmade culture as a means of sustaining the cultural heritage and identity of artisan communities. It presented craft production as a cooperative system of making, sustaining traditional ways of life and the concept of the folk market as a potential tool for elevating the production and circulation of craft products in a ‘closed economy’.This research project continues scholarly research on the historical preservation of the crafts within the entity of the village as an ethno-genetic process developed at the Design History Society Annual International Conference ‘Writing Design: Object, Process, Discourse, Translation’, University of Hertfordshire (3-5 September 2009, with the paper - ‘Framing Design Narratives: Forms of Collecting’). The project also continued research presented at the International Conference ‘New Craft, Future Voices’ (Past, Present and Future Craft Practice Research) held at University of Dundee and published as ‘Using as Consuming’, in ‘Aesthetics, Collaborative Practice, Communicating Craft, Critical Engagement’ - Book section, Ed. Georgina Follett and Louise Valentine. Published by the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and the Scottish Arts Council ISBN 1 899837 55 8
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 36-40 |
| Journal | Making Futures |
| Volume | 1 |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 2010 |
Bibliographical note
To ensure the widest possible dissemination Making Futures is published as an open-access academic resource for all those interested in its theme.Copyright of the papers belongs to the Making Futures conference organiser, Plymouth College of Art. Authors retain proprietary rights and veto over third party publication. Authors wishing to publish elsewhere must first seek permission from Plymouth College of Art and will be required to credit them as the original publishers of the paper.
Reference text: The papers in this volume represent the results of the first Making Futures international research conference held in September 2009 at Mount Edgcumbe House, in the Mount Edgcumbe country estate that lies across the River Tamar opposite the City of Plymouth, UK.
The purpose of the Making Futures conference series is to improve understanding of the ways in which the contemporary crafts are practised in relation to significant and new emerging agendas relating to global environmental and sustainability issues. The objectives included trying to understand whether these ‘agendas’ offer opportunities for the crafts to redefine and reconstitute themselves as less marginalised, more centrally productive forces in society, through new formulations and/or re-articulations of practices, identities, positions and markets, in ways that might engage more closely with contemporary social and cultural needs.
Thirty-nine presentations were selected for the final conference programme following a process of double-blind abstract reviewing by a distinguished peer review panel. By far the overwhelming majority of presenters (thirty-five) responded positively to the post- conference call to publish and all are included in this volume, and accompanied by an introductory essay by Malcolm Ferris, the conference curator.
Keywords
- sustainable practices of making
- the handmade
- artisan communities
- cooperative system of making
- craft products