Editorial: Shifting craft’s horizons: From individual makers to post-anthropocentric models of co-production

Niedderer, K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8188-6338 and Townsend, K (2023) Editorial: Shifting craft’s horizons: From individual makers to post-anthropocentric models of co-production. Craft Research Journal, 14 (1). pp. 3-8. ISSN 2040-4689

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Abstract

This issue features the work of individual practitioners who explore making through established decorative arts such as fine jewellery in Paris, mosaic glass making in Myanmar and a ceramic installation in the Cathedral of Palma de Majorca, alongside socially engaged groups employing co-production methodologies for designing everyday objects and experiences. Within each article, materials and the immediate and wider environment are considered as partners in the co-crafting process, albeit to varying degrees. The notion of serendipity and the influence of eastern philosophy on embracing imperfection in craft practice underpins some accounts and is questioned in others. As a collection, the articles evidence a palpable shift towards, and need for a more equal relationship and level of agency between the maker and the material, as argued in the Position Paper. This includes consideration of gender equality in particular crafts, where roles are traditionally linked to the properties of the materials and skills involved, as highlighted in the Craft and Industry Report. Social engagement through craft is echoed in the Portrait where stitch and embroidery are practised as forms of participatory expression, supporting human connectivity between cross-cultural and trans-national communities to influence issues of social justice. The affective role and emotive sensations evoked by textiles are also explored in the exhibition review of A Thread, Levitated and Hovering, staged in Hangzhou in 2022 and the first of three book reviews; Feminist Subjectivities in Fiber Art and Craft (2021), the other two discussing The Pursuit of Pleasurable Work (2021) and Industrial Craft in Australia (2021).