A Code of Practice for Craft-Design Collaborations

Transcription

1 A Code of Practice for Craft-Design Collaborations

2 Someday humanity will owe its survival to handicrafts. Albert Einstein

3 Context: What s been happening lately Designers Meet Artisans publication Growth of world craft Climate change South Project Global financial crisis

4 Context: Designers Meet Artisans

5 Context: Growth of world craft

6 Context: Climate Change It is neither desirable nor remotely feasible to seek to remove environmental pressures through diminution of the aspirations of the world s people for higher material standards of living. GARNAUT CLIMATE CHANGE REVIEW INTERIM REPORT February 2008

7 Context: South Project Four year circuit of South reveals potential for south-south cultural exchange

8 Context: Global Financial Crisis Realisation of limits to abstract forms of equity Trust in more tangible goods Need to find local employment

9 SWOT STRENGTHS Richness of craft traditions Innovation of design OPPORTUNITIES Increased interconnectivity Rise of ethical consumerism WEAKNESSES Loss of local market for crafts Low value of handmade THREATS Victimary thinking Cynicism

10 The dilemma and potential solution We want to sustain cultural diversity Traditional craft is challenged by globalisation Loss of local market due to cheap imports Focus away from tradition and towards consumption Urban consumers are seeking to make positive choices Climate change prompts sense of responsibility Need to construct a cultural identity Opportunity to develop craft for urban markets Designers have capacity to help that development

11 It s time to get serious But there is a large cultural gap between designer and artisan Leads to suspicion of hidden motives And there is inevitable commodification of ethical products They become linked to the fashion cycle Eventually seen as marketing gimmick So we need something to underpin ethical craft products To assist designer and artisan to better understand each other To demonstrate to the consumer that this is serious

12 The craft-design exchange Globalisation Need for cultural identity Loss of local market Product development City Village

13 Goals To create an international Code of Practice for Craft- Design Collaborations that informs participants engaged in product development and those purchasing the results To develop trust between designers and craftspersons To share information between projects applying design to traditional craft practices To improve sustainability of craft practice To bolster market confidence in legitimacy of crafted design

14 Schedule Select five case studies from a range of regions across the world Collate information about the hopes and fears of participants in these case studies Produce a report on Issues Raised When Designers and Craftspersons Work Together Host a workshop to develop a draft Code of Practice informed by the report Disseminate the draft Code of Practice for comment Develop final Code of Practice (one page outline, with supporting text) Disseminate Code of Practice

15 Structure - Code of Practice Advisory committee Research team Funding Process Dissemination World Craft Council Anthropology Australian Research Fund Case studies UNESCO International Design Alliance Market research Consortium Report World Fair Trade Organisation Sociology Workshop NGOs Industrial design Draft code UNESCO Craft history Final code

16 A Code of Practice would provide Product development involving handmade objects Guidelines for agreements between craftspersons and designers Clear communication of hopes and fears Right to know

17 Interests Makers Slow movement NGOs Code Fair trade Retail Craft orgs

18 Activities in 2009 Selling Yarns conference, March 2009 After the Missionaries issue of Artlink, June 2009 The World of Small Things: An Exhibition of Craft Diplomacy, Craft Victoria, June 2009 Craft-Design workshop, Suva (Fiji) August 2009 Craft-Design workshop, Santiago (Chile) November2009

19 Partnership

20 Further information Visit: Or contact Kevin Murray on 20 April 2009