It would be difficult to dispute that we are now living at a moment when the fusion of digital technology and craft is revealing a potentially endless array of complex and difficult formal topologies. Material craft has now embraced the potential of the once highly restrictive industrial production that ordained a modular limitation to formal invention, has now evolved into a flexible and adaptable manufacturing strategy liberated by CNC (computer numerical control).

The success of this new technology is contingent on the absolute subordination of a homogeneous substrate. While this may seem to point to an unprecedented material liberty, it does present a problem: We make by challenging and resisting material. It in turn, it reveals an intentional resistance that provokes a cycle of challenges and resistances. When geometry is challenged by aberrant materials, craft is forced into pattern of innovative discovery generated by the imperfection.

How then, do we integrate the indeterminate cycle of craft and invention into a design process transformed by tools entirely reliant on prediction and the (virtual and real) homogeneity of materials? If we look to the traditional use of Techne, an inert and impassive material is by far the worst prerequisite for making. In fact, in order for the cycle of craft to occur, the material must be animate and responsive.

This paper reflects on the nature of material craft in realm of digital fabrication. It will look both at the history and the contemporary opportunity of generative art, automata, responsive technology and its subversive (yet essential) relationship to contemporary making. Aberrent Traces: Provoking Generative Form in Animate Materials.

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L'auteur explore la relation complexe entre la manipulation des matériaux, manipulation matérielle d'une part, et numérique d'autre part, et les effet de cette fusion sur la fabrication d'objets de métiers d'art contemporain.

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Is possible to 'make a living' in craft and maintain a balance between personalcreative fulfilment/achievement and commercial gain? In the current technological climate, does 'making a living' in craft mean there is a need for compromise and if so where or what should it be?

Both of these questions will be explored. However, as well as discussing issues concerning quality of life, this paper will also look at the meaning and identity of craft and discuss this within the context of western industrial culture. The work of David Pye, Soetsu Yanagi, Peter Dormer, Tanya Harrod and Jorunn Veiteberg (amongst others) will be referred to.

To further contextualise this position, the paper will also refer to my 10 years experience of being a craft-practitioner and discuss how I moved between business practice and craft practice. It will focus on the resultant voyage of discovery which led me to frequently ask what 'making a living' in craft means from the perspective of the maker. The journey also raised questions concerning craft value, knowledge and aesthetics.

This research has significance in a wider context;

• the integral part that craft and craft knowledge plays within art and design and the importance of this in a technological era.
• the significance of 'making a living' within future crafts practice.

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Est-il possible pour l'artisane de maintenir une balance entre le travail, la créativité, et le profit? Que signifie l'expression "gagner sa vie" pour la personne qui pratique un métier d'art? L'auteure répond à ces questions à partir de ses 10 années d'expérience comme artisane.

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As the British composer Simon Emmerson [2000, p116] has claimed: 'Traditions have fuzzy edges, both in space and time. Even to define a tradition at all may be to fall into the trap of reifying the notion after the event, yet we use the term for want of a better.' Taking Emmerson's observation as its starting point, this paper will question the role of tradition within contemporary craft practice. It will argue that it is crucial for craft to continue to find ways to foster a spirit of innovation whilst maintaining its connections with the established forms of knowledge which give it such a particular identity.

Using examples of contemporary British craft this paper will explore some of the tensions between overlapping discourses of tradition and innovation in relation to craft practice. It will ultimately argue that there are rich profits (culturally speaking) to be achieved from understanding innovation and tradition as being highly compatible elements rather than impossible opponents. Furthermore that the successful morphing of the two can result in craft practice not only successfully engaging with ever- increasing levels of commercial innovation but also of finding new ways to keep its own identity in order to continue to define its role in, and engage with, contemporary society.

References:
Emmerson, S. (2000) Music, electronic media and culture, Aldershot: Ashgate Press

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Dans son exposé, l'auteure met l'emphase sur l'importance de la tradition et la poursuite de l'innovation, dans la pratique artisanale contemporaine en Angleterre. Elle explore les tensions créées par ces deux points de vue, ainsi que leurs compatibilities.

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This paper is based on outcomes of the practice-based PhD project 'Illumination and Emanation: Light as Body adornment' ('I+E'). The research exploits advances in miniature light sources in order to establish new forms of aesthetic expression through wearable light features.

'I+E' investigates how the emissions from these light features interact with the body as a dynamic three dimensional projection space and how this interaction shapes the sensory perception of the body within its environment. Therefore the research focuses on the aesthetic and sensory qualities of light as an immaterial medium in relationship to the body rather than on the exploration of lighting as a technological feature. This leads to a design and making process that centres on the exploration of a design driven aesthetic rather than a technology driven aesthetic.

'I+E' draws on a history of working with light and the body that ranges from Loie Fuller's experiments with 'light dances' in the late 19th century, via Atsuko Tanaka's explorations of the 'Electric Dress' in the 1950s, to Dan Flavin's creation of fluorescent light installations and the authors own collaborations with contemporary choreographers such as Carol Brown.

The paper illustrates different approaches where advances in lighting technology have been applied to produce wearable light features that create sensual light effects on the body. It explores how these light effects change the sensory perception of the body for wearer and viewer and discusses how the change in sensory perception might impact on the understanding of the body and the social interaction between wearer and viewer.

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Cette exposé est basé sur une thèse de doctorat appellée: "Ilumination et Emanation: la Lumière en tant que Parure Corporelle". L'auteure parle des progrès survenus dans la technologie de l'éclairage, et comment cette technologie, lorsqu'utilisée sur le corps humain, transforme les perceptions sensorielles de l'utilisateur et de l'observateur.

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Carl Beam (1943-2005) has distinguished himself as an artist who does not so much as reconcile distinct and sometimes opposing or even contradictory cultures and traditions within his art works but rather they become part of his ongoing exploration of "…the interconnectedness of world events as an extension of microcosmic ecologies…"

Although he has had formal art training, Beam also had a number of life experiences not specifically related to art-making. He culled images from his own life experience and frequently juxtaposed them with historical and contemporary images, thus relating the "personal" with the larger "societal" picture. Stylistically his technique is more connected to Rauschenberg than to the Woodlands or traditional native art styles. His innovative techniques, in fact, have been emulated by a new generation of artists – native and not.

His work stands at the cutting edge of contemporary art and push insistently at its boundaries. The autobiographical cast of his work and his use of personal, commercial, and classic imagery from the histories of art and photography offer complexities of style and content.

In Canada, best-known for his paintings and works on paper, Beam has had an active ceramic practice that began in the early 1980s and continued until his death in 2005. Drawing inspiration from Anasazi and Mimbres cultures and techniques, Beam combined these with his own signature techniques creating a unique approach to ceramics as a means of contemporary art-making. In an artist statement in 2005 Beam wrote: The hemispherical quality of a large bowl still excites me…it is a universe unto itself, where anything can happen – the designs are limitless.

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L'auteure parle de la vie et de l'oeuvre du peintre et céramiste canadien Carl Beam (1943-2005).

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At the beginning of the 21st century the crafts occupy a \"contested landscape of unstable meanings\". Craft terminology is problematic, varying across historical, cultural and linguistic boundaries, and blurring between the designation of craft objects and the methods of their production. Moreover, beginning in the 1870's when Arts and Crafts advocates used the crafts to realize contemporaneous theories of social reform, the crafts have defined themselves as much by what they are not as what they are. Whether positioned as antidote to dehumanized mechanization, demoralized aesthetics or canonic exclusion; as pejorative foil to fine arts intellectualism and rationalized progress; as either conscious reaction to or the unwitting dupe of elitist marginalization, the crafts consistently have been framed within hierarchized binaries, constituted as 'Other' to dominant hegemonies. This paper discusses the shortcomings of such essentialized and polarized readings of the crafts, particularly regarding anti-modernism (and the implied modernism this term opposes and privileges), positing a more nuanced and comprehensive view of the crafts in contemporary society.

Edward S. Cooke Jr. "Modern Craft and the American Experience", American Art, XXI, 1, (Spring 2007), 2.

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L'auteure explore la problématique – au niveau historique, linguistique, et culturel – reliée au terme "craft". Ce mot, qui désigne à la fois les objets produits et leur mode de production, est souvent définit par ce qu'il n'est pas, plutôt que par ce qu'il est. Elle présente les difficultés qu'occasionnent cette polarisation.

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In the 17th and 18th centuries, Europe embarked on a love affair with things Chinese. Europe nurtured its own vision of the East, particularly China, as a world of fantasy, exoticism, orderliness and delight. Numerous historians have explored and deconstructed this myth of orient that so captivated the visual arts in that period.

In the 20th century, potters flocked to Japan, seeking authenticity deriving from a thousand-year old tradition as promoted by Bernard Leach and others. While this legacy spawned ambivalence, pilgrimage to the East remains a significant rite of passage for many Western ceramists, as witnessed by frequent anecdotal accounts in journals and conferences. What have been less explored are contradictory issues of ethics, politics and culture that govern such exchanges in a period of extreme political, social, and economic change. Given the rapidly evolving relationship between China and the developed world, there is some urgency to analyzing dangers inherent in an uncontested "new orientalism."

I propose to examine several exchange programs directed towards Western ceramists, focusing on the romantic vision of China presented in the literature. Interviewing a number of ceramists who have spent significant--often career altering--time in China, notably Jingdezhen, I will analyze artists' reasons for going, expectations and responses to the experience. While acknowledging the power and benefit of these experiences, I will propose a framework for considering ethics and power relationships inherent in cultural exchange. This is new research for me; my paper will constitute a preliminary report to generate further dialogue.

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A travers une série d'entrevue auprès de céramists ayant fait des séjours en Chine, l'auteure propose une structure pour analyser les relations de pouvoir intrinsèques à ces échanges artistiques ainsi qu'aux échanges culturels en general.

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This essay will look at the specific history of craft in Quebec and the circumstances, some that are still in place that reinforced the dichotomy between fine arts and craft. This situation proposes a new form of craft discourse, illustrated by contemporary productions that draw from both traditions, that of craft and that of fine arts, to create a new understanding that acknowledges craft history, the materiality of its object and the concept at the core of its creation.

In Quebec, utilitarian tradition persisted in the craft milieu even after the Refus Global challenged social and cultural traditions in 1948, as well as during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Craft production has for a long time been linked to self-reliance and played a socio-political role tied in with the French-Canadian national identity. At the same time, the idea of modernism in the fine arts influenced the diversification of approaches in the creation of craft objects. New approaches brought the need for new categorisations and definitions. What if we are confronted by an object in which function and art cohabitate? One that, from the language of art and the language of craft, creates a new language that is not yet entrenched in bilingualism.

It is clear that artists who produced works that are neither one nor the other (art or craft) nonetheless sit (un)comfortably on the border between the two– a place of their own, a hybrid zone somewhere in between both disciplines yet forcefully present. The contribution of the creators working outside restrictive boundaries, both the ones of craft as well as the ones of fine arts, need to be acknowledged, celebrated and promoted for the health of the craft milieu. Therefore, it seems necessary to acknowledge fine arts and craft traditions in a discourse "that inform both current practices and public perceptions of them" (Robin Metcalfe, 2000), in looking forward to recognising craft object uniqueness, and at the same time, abolishing an unnecessary and archaic hierarchical order.

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L'auteur explore la dichatomie, au Québec, entre le travail de l'artisan et celui de l'artiste, dichotomie fermement établie dans la loi. Le travail de plusieurs cependant, est hybride. L'auteur examine cette situation dans son contexte socio-politique et linguistique, à l'heure où emerge un nouveau discours, celui de l'abolition de cette hiérarchie.

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Adorno's philosophical project was based on a radical reassessment of the subjectobject relationship. He held that Western philosophy and the social structure it reflects demonstrates a flawed or untrue separation of subject and object and encourages a world view in which the subject looks out on 'reality,' knows it, and subjugates it. In such a view, systematic exploitation of the material world creates a commodified and reified totality in which almost everything is designed and produced for profit. Adorno's aesthetic theory argues that artworks provide the only refuge from this world; they both reveal and protest against the historical processes by which our culture habitually thinks of and addresses the physical world.

Though Adorno is generally held to exemplify an elitist attitude toward art that might exclude craft, in fact his aesthetic theory can yield fresh insights when applied to contemporary craft works. His theory sees the individual artwork not as an inert thing placed over and against the subject, but as a process in which concepts, sedimented histories, and other relationships interact with the subject in order to create meaning. The elements of the artwork act both together and against each other in this ongoing process.

Because of its multiplicity and its insistence on both conceptual and material meanings, the Adornian notion of the artwork is particularly applicable to contemporary craft. An analysis of craft pieces by contemporary glass and furniture artists will illustrate these processes.

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L'auteure commente sur les métiers d'art contemporains à partir de la théorie sur l'esthétique du philosophe Adorno, où la division imposée entre le sujet et l'objet disparaît. Elle démontre ce processus en faisant l'analyse d'objets de productions artisanale contmporains.

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Craft production is a form of work that is often overlooked in contemporary sociology studies. In some ways this is surprising as more peripheral regions turn to it as a form of development, and the precariousness it shares with other selfemployed work. That being said, craftwork has its own unique characteristics that require the researcher to pay careful consideration. This includes relationships in the household, among the community, with consumers, and with the past (i.e. conforming to an established tradition). Because of its absence in the literature, there is little out there to guide people on how to research small-scale craftwork. In this paper, I set out to describe how I believe one should approach the study of craftworkers. I go about this by combining material culture methods with qualitative narratives. I take Schlereth's behaviourist model (1982) and incorporate it into narrative analysis as put forth by the likes of Jane Elliot (2005). This culminates in an actionist approach that situates not only the craftworker in his or her social and cultural environment, but also includes reflexive acknowledgements of the researcher's role in the research process. To illustrate this, I will bring portions of Newfoundland craftspeople's narratives collected for my doctoral dissertation, as well as my reflexive account of doing research about craftworkers.

Work cited:
Elliot, J. (2005) Using narrative in social research: qualitative and quantitative approaches. London: Sage. Schlereth, T. (1982) Material culture studies in America. Nashville, Tenn.: American Association for State and Local History.

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Les outils de recherche pour l'étude de la production artisanale à petite échelle sont rares, sinon inexistants. L'auteure suggère une approche pour ce type de recherche, effectuée pour sa thèse de doctorat auprès des artisans de Terre-Neuve.

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India had an established quilt culture long before Portuguese ships first arrived at the subcontinent in 1498. Quilting in various parts of the subcontinent had an ancient history and these objects were renowned for their beauty, whether appliquéd with dyed cotton, embroidered on a plain silk or cotton ground or quilted with painted or printed cottons. In this paper I will explore the impact on Europe of the direct trade with India after 1500, as Indian quilts arrived in Europe in growing numbers. Indian quilts were traded to Europe over a three hundred year period, an inspiration for European needlewomen and artisans. Over the same time the structure and substance of Western-made quilting was transformed; European quilting developed new patterns and forms with the expanded trade in Indian cottons from the mid-seventeenth century and cotton soon became a staple in the production of these objects. Through what K. N. Chaudhuri calls a "transmission of culture" through trade, a hybridised type of bed-furnishing developed that became a key cultural idiom of Western domestic furnishing, as well as a medium of personal expression. By charting this East/West history of quilts, I will show how rare foreign exotics became transposed in to a feature of everyday Western family life, with the idiom of domestic culture enriched in the process.

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L'auteure retrace l'histoire de la courtepointe indienne et sa dissemination à travers l'Europe, à partir de l'arrivée des Portugais en 1498 jusqu'au 19e siècle. Elle adresse les changements importants qu'ont occasionnés ces importations sur les coutrepointes européennes, pendant 300 ans d'échanges commerciaux entre l'Inde et l'Europe.

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The compiling of scrapbooks has received little recognition as a craft, but in the past decade has emerged as the latest commercialized craft hobby. Yet "scrapbooking" has a history that goes back to at least the 18th century. In this paper I would like to explore the history of the compilation of scrapbooks and albums as a craft, and consider the implications of its modern form. In many ways, the craft has not changed; it is still primarily a female hobby, and its popularity is due in large part to its commercialization. Yet the way we view scrapbooks and the meanings they create have changed substantially. It is no coincidence that at a time when we fear losing our memory to Alzheimer's, scrapbooking is sold as a means to capture and save family memories. But in "capturing" memories, the scrapbooking industry shapes the range of possible storylines. Scrapbookers don't just use family snapshots taken at random, but pose them with the future scrapbook layout in mind. The needs of the scrapbook demand that the events take place and be photographed. In other words, the craft itself is creating our lives. It is also subordinating the visual – photography – to the textual. The meaning of the photograph on the scrapbook page is fixed by the headlines, layout, and text captions, leaving no room for ambiguity or alternate readings. Moreover, digital technology has made it possible to produce virtual scrapbooks, eliminating the visual/tactile/material experience of the craft by encapsulating the craft object within the virtual space of the home computer. Scrapbook compiling is thus a threatened, and threatening, craft.

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Les albums faits maison existent depuis le 18e siècle et n'ont été commercialisés que depuis une décennie. L'auteure explore les changements à la fois subtils et importants affectant cette forme d'art, ainsi que la signification profonde de ces changements sur notre mémoire et nos souvenirs.

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Throughout the twentieth century any discussion of modern Irish craft has made reference to the production of Ireland's historic past. This held true for both Southern and Northern Ireland which were politically, and geographically, divided in 1921. In the 1920s both the Northern and Southern Irish governments attempted to reclaim Ireland's rich craft heritage, which stretched back to pre-Christian times, as their own and quizzically constructed opposing political identities based upon similar self-definitions in which craft was seen as a cornerstone. From the 1920s through to the 1960s the two Irish states actively, and competitively, promoted craft and strengthened its links with professional design and industrial manufacture. However, by the 1970s when the Troubles became a major vehicle of expression for fine artists many craftworkers also began to turn their work into a commentary on what was happening politically. It is this period from the 1970s to the 1990s that is least written about in histories of Irish craft although such a divergence of direction for craftworkers has today resulted in a lack of clarity as to their role in the post-colonial, post-conflict society of twentieth-first century Ireland. This paper seeks to address the changing definitions of Irish craft from a tool of state philosophy to entrepreneurial practice to individual creative expression, and to reconsider how craft has reflected the flux of war and peace in modern Ireland.

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L'auteur situe le travail des artisans Irlandais dans son contexte historique et politique – depuis la partition nord/sud en 1921, jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Il explore la façon don't les expressions artistiques ont été utilisés comme véhicule de pensée politique par les gouvernements du nord et du sud; et comme commentaries politiques par les artisans eux-mèmes.

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The dual nature of crafts in India as manifestations of living cultural practices as well as tradable market goods or commodities has been a source of confusion and debate. This confusion has been reflected in policy and practice, with different crafts placed under different administrative structures and even ministries and also perceived and treated differently by the State, NGOs, Crafts Councils, design institutions, consumers and other patrons of craft. The States emphasis on greater internationalization of Indian crafts in the 1980s and the embracement of neoliberal economic strategies in 1991 has integrated the Indian crafts sector further into the global economy. Globalization has also brought vast changes in the perception, patronage, production, distribution and consumption (domestic as well as global) of several Indian crafts.

Viewed earlier as a 'dead weight' that must be subsidized and nurtured until it can be industrialized, the rapid growth in crafts exports have led the State to position the crafts sector as a 'key contributor' to India's economic growth, employment generation and poverty alleviation. A host of new actors including multilateral agencies, corporate style NGOs, policy makers, mainstream designers, architects, exporters and large retail corporations have begun to focus greater interest in the vast skilled and semi-skilled human resources as well as on the natural and cultural resources of hereditary/traditional craft communities in India.

This paper traces the shifts in the perceptions of traditional crafts in India and maps the transformations in State policy and in the interventions of the State, NGOs, designers and other actors in the crafts sector. It examines the implications of two recent UN conventions for traditional craftspeople in India. It highlights the debates and the concerns of craftspeople and other stakeholders on the future of craft and the intangible cultural heritage of traditional craftspeople.

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L'auteure explique la reconnaissance et les changements importants récement accordés à l'industrie artisanale indien par le gouvernement de ce pays, ainsi aque par divers organismes internationaux.

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Craftster.org is a not-for-profit web domain that hosts an online forum designed to facilitate community among people who make crafts. Started by computer programmer Leah Kramer in 2003, the Craftster forum now boasts nearly 73,000 registered members. The forum is arranged in groupings of specific message boards, categorized according to types of craft (knitting, sewing, beading, paper crafts, etc.), general discussion, geographical regions, craft swaps, and "crafty business ventures".

The first section of this paper contraposes discourses of sharing and selling. Here I address the question: how does a forum designed for sharing negotiate the pervasive influence of advertising and marketing? This problem opens onto a larger discussion of contemporary crafting and its relation to consumer society. Members describe the thrifty characteristics of crafting as a source of personal satisfaction and accomplishment. Additional motives for crafting examined in the paper include: therapeutic benefits; "cultural capital"; and social and political ideals. Moreover, since the majority of Craftster members are female, their discussion often attempts to re-position craft making as a feminist activity. Yet, nonetheless, crafting takes place against the backdrop of consumption and domesticity: does "crafty" shopping subvert consumerism or traditional domestic roles for women?

Most scholarly work on handicraft deals with developing countries and the economic situations therein, rather than the relatively affluent, computer-savvy Craftster members of this study. The members' postings on the Craftster forum are used as documentary sources; they evidence an awareness of the paradoxes of contemporary crafting, while also affirming how new incarnations of craft communities create bridging and bonding among geographically-dispersed crafters.

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Craftster.org est un domaine d'enchaînement qui hôte un 'online forum' avec l'intention de faciliter un sens de communauté envers ceux interresé dans l'artisanal. L'auteure discute le discour de partage et de vente et adresse la question: comment un forum conçu pour le partage d'objet artisanal négocie l'influence dominante de la publicité et de commercialisation?

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Traditional craft and mass manufacturing are two extremes of production systems that cater to meet the needs in our daily life. Early craftsmen spent many hours on repetitive and laborious handwork. The industrial revolution has improved their productivity and the quality of their wares by means of machines and engineering. Mass production has greatly reduced costs and improved quality but also increased standardization. This trend towards uniformity has sparked a greater desire from consumers for one-of-a-kind objects and with it a resurgence of fine crafts.

The increasing demand for unique objects suggests that the industrial era that has saturated us with goods in identical multiples is now at a close. A fine craft artist must think of ways to reconcile the craft tradition and our fast paced technological society. The manufacturer must work towards means to integrate multiple products and designs into the production system. Combining the creativity of the artist and the latest tools and technologies of the manufacturing industry would enable them to remain competitive and to meet future challenges in the global market. This was the basis of Yung's recent Artist in Residence for Research (AIRes ) project at the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute in London, Ontario.

{AIRes is a joint program between the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Research Council}

We will present the design generative software developed during the residency, work produced and how the use of computer aided technologies impact on a fine craft practitioner.

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Dans son exposé, l'auteure explore l'interface entre les procédés manufacturriers d'aujourd'hui et la production artisanale contemporaine, et la nécessité et les avantages qu'ont les deux à se rejoindre. Elle présente le logiciel développé durant son séjour à l'Institut des Technologies Manufacturières, à Londres en Ontario.

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Findings from recently completed PhD research into the impact of digital imaging technology on printed textile practice have illuminated the importance of hand use and sensory stimulation in creative cognition. For the craft practitioner the tacit knowledge of the making processes, materials and their interaction, is built through proprioceptive sensory stimuli, received and delivered, principally through the hands. Digital ink-jet printing now provides textile craft practitioners' new methods of delivering one of a kind or limited edition designs without the requirement for the hands on printing methods previously required to translate images onto cloth. These changes inevitably impact upon the practitioners' creative thinking, innovation and working processes.

This paper details part of this research and describes ways in which digital technology supports creative printed textile practice. Use of ethnographic qualitative research methods to collect data are explained including case study, informal interviews, and documentation through video recording, photography and research journals. Collaborative task exercises are described in which the researcher is engaged creatively with the case study practitioners to develop art works. Analysis of this data reveals the importance of physical experience and making by hand in the digital crafting process. The expression of emotional content and its communication through the digitally printed artifact is discussed. Hybridisation of digital and hand crafting practice is described and illustrated.

Current post-doctoral research arising from this study, involving international academic collaborations, is presented and areas for future study proposed.

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Cathy Treadaway la stimulation sensorielle dans le processus de creation où intervient cet technologie.

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The notion of skill (skilled work, skilled knowledge) is a metaphor of making in craft world. As a verb it means, 'to know how to do something' and, as a noun, 'the ability to use one's knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance' (Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam Webster). But, this view of making emphasizes the paradigm of technical rationality, in which the focus is only on motor achievement. It seems to refer into doing things in a right manner and properly, and does not take into account the expressive nature of craft making.

The concept of intelligent making as a synonym of craft, on the other hand, is 'a mix of formal knowledge, tacit knowledge, physical and mental skill, contextual awareness, innovation and personal creative autonomy' (Press & Cusworth1997, 5). Although this notion recognizes creativity, it neglects the role of body and senses in making.

My presentation is a part of my PhD study about Do-It-Yourself craft as a political activity and a pleasure of making. I argue that contemporary craft is a message; it is communication, a pleasure, and a way of making a statement. Furthermore, we need new vocabulary, new methodologies, and new concepts for analyzing contemporary craft as a self-expressive, corporeal, and sensual activity. In Neo Craft I will focus on conceptualizing the pleasure and politics of DIY craft making.

Keywords: DIY craft, artistic expression, corporeality, senses, politics of making, phenomenology

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L'auteure présente une partie de sa thèse de doctorat qui consiste en une étude des activités artisanales de loisir. Ces activités nécessitent entre autres, un nouveau language, en vue d'analyser leur signification au niveau d'engagement politique et d'engagement des sens.

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Women's current engagement in artisanal production in the Philippines offers a useful lens for the analysis of gender, technology and socio-economic change with globalization as women's workforce participation throughout the Philippines is among the highest and most varied in countries of the Global South. Female artisans working in the piña (pineapple) textile industry, distinctive to Aklan province central Philippines, for example, simultaneously specialize in particular tasks and use their varied skills to work across production processes both within cooperative and household-based enterprises. Yet, much of the recent scholarship on globalization, neoliberalism and work argues that commodity production has become increasingly fragmented such that women, in particular, often lose control over their labour.

In this paper, I suggest that Philippine piña artisans and entrepreneurs reconfigure the organization of work, space, power and social relations to craft multifaceted technologies that dissolve essentialist categories such as "holistic" and "prescriptive" practice (Franklin 1999). Although piña artisans work within a system of task specialization (prescriptive), they share knowledge of processes, exercise options in work schedules and have negotiated varied benefits from employers. Through their advocacy, artisans refashion the nature of, and obtain some control over, piña's prescriptive methods. Regarding technology as transformatory practice – as encompassing social and economic organization, procedures and relations – enables analyses of contemporary piña production to reach beyond simple binary spheres. Piña artisans and entrepreneurs innovatively establish livelihoods in this competitive textile sector to consolidate cultural identities and community commitments even as they produce differences in material well-being.

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La participation des Philippiennes dans les manufactures de type artisanal est la plus élévée des pays de l'hémisphère sud. L'auteure décrit la participation de ces femmes dans l'industrie du textile "Pi ñ a" (ananas). Malgré la specialization des tâches à l'intérieur de cette industrie, les artisans on néammoins gardé le contrôle des methods de production et des conditions de travail.

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Ornament has re-emerged as a legitimate artistic framework, but its historical appearance is no longer relevant for contemporary expression. Today's architecture has revived ornament's prerequisite: diversity and variance. By reaching beyond formal design and construction issues, contemporary architecture can be a crucible for innovation in craft media.

Ornament has been a cultural prosthetic, a visual language that implies action and replaces movement and words. The ornaments of traditional architecture were slender organizational layers of beautifully crafted materials, which mediated vistas and enclosures, and fashioned remarkably hybrid and complex spaces. Roaming from narrative to abstract, ornament provided the fundaments of rhythm, measurement and speech in the precincts of practical objects and in our buildings. The next incarnation of ornament will not use imagery, but involve a dramatic transformation of the media, its functionalities and content from craft perspectives.

Today, reflexive, kinetic and experimental architectures proliferate, and craft practice is in an opportune position to contribute. Collaborations should reach beyond the studios of craft and architecture to embrace relationships with ecologists, botanists, ornithologists, biologists, physicians, engineers and other specialists.

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L'auteur explore la tradition ornemantale dansl'architecture du passé, et la ré-émergence de l'ornementation dans l'architecture d'aujourd'hui. Il adresse certaines des charactéristiques distinctives et fondamentalement différentes de cette ornementation dans l'architecture contemporaine.

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Keywords: craft, globalization, material culture, (post-) modernity, Scotland, tourism, visual culture. This paper draws on my own situation as a visual anthropologist doing doctoral research on craft as material and visual culture. My work in the North East of Scotland is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2005-2006, and it combines art and documentary photography with traditional participant observation. The resulting study approaches craft from theoretical and methodological perspectives that are critically situated outside those of trained crafts practitioners.

I explore people's experiences of global processes in the North Atlantic and how those experiences manifest themselves in specific approaches to craft economies today. Modernity and tourism are two main parts of these processes, and it is there that the objective and subjective realities of these cultural exchanges combine. They also set the stage for asking two questions:

"How do the abstract idea and the physical reality of craft mediate relationships between North Americans and Scots?" Followed by, "How do global fragmentation, ethnification, and the contemporary search for "roots" affect the way people in Scotland imagine and manipulate their local economies?" The answers rely on ethnographic research focused not on tweeds and tartans, but on skilled people who live with and make craft as part of their daily lives. So, with the use of images from the field, I search for immaterial relationships that crafts mediate between the "Old" and "New World," between ethnographic locality and global process.

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L'auteure explore la façon don't le modernité et le tourisme influencent les économies à base artisanale dans le nord-ouest de l'Ecosse.

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"Do you appreciate handmade arts and crafts? Are you the owner of a computer, a PDA, or, an iPod? If so, SafariPod probably has a product that will make you smile... today, and every day ... At SafariPod we are adding back a touch of humanity to our otherwise sterile environments. We hope you appreciate the effort."

What better companion for your iPod than a hand-carved wooden plinth in the shape of a rhino or elephant? Or if you wish to celebrate the launch of Apple's new operating system -- the OSX 10.5 "Leopard"-- then Kenya's SafariPod craft workshop could also ship you a traditionally crafted black leopard made especially in its honour. iCraft. It had to happen sooner or later. However, such iCraft does highlight the question of craft's relationship to digital culture. Is it solely to provide a little light handmade decorative relief in our technologically saturated lives?

This paper will explore this question in terms of material culture, identifying how crafted objects and digitized objects appear to arise from different worlds and constitute wholly different types of objects.

I suggest that there is evidence of a new model of craft practice emerging -- small certainly, but potentially highly significant -- which is in many cases being pursued by makers who have difficulty embracing "the c-word" as a descriptor for their practice. But craft it most certainly is.

Endnotes
http://www.safaripod.com accessed 06/12/06

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L'auteur présente l'arrivée de "iCraft", où un objet sculpté à tout acheteur d'un "SafariPod". Une rencontre étonnante – et inévitable? – entre la culture matérielle et la culture numérique, et qui pourrait être fructueuse pour l'artisan.

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Outside of the famous Cheticamp story, historians and economists have overlooked the economic impact of the hooked mat trade for Nova Scotians during the first half of the twentieth century. Primarily women's work done within the domestic sphere, hooked mats were most often traded or sold through informal channels (in many cases, traveling peddlers exchanged goods for mats); therefore, little accounting exists to calculate what significance this work played in the larger economy. However, period newspapers, oral and organizational accounts provide hints as to the importance of hooked mats in local economies. The trades and their American buyers and sellers stood to gain the most profit from the labours of rural Nova Scotians. Nevertheless, there would have been economic spin-offs for local hotels, eating establishments and gas stations because of the influx of tourists and collectors during the height of the hooked mat collecting "mania". The provincial government made attempts to realize the economic potential of this informal industry; however, initiatives met with limited success due to several factors. In contrast to Cheticamp where an outside designer created a technique and design repertoire that is now completely "naturalized" as the Cheticamp style, the mat hooking industry in the rest of the province remained more informal, flexible, and regionally and individually distinctive. This paper will explore a remarkable period of craft industry and its importance to the rural economy at a time when earning options for women were limited.

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L'auteure présente l'histoire du tapis crocheté à Chéticamp au début du 20e siècle, et souligne l'importance de cet art dans l'économie rurale en Nouvelle-écosse.

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Throughout our history there are many examples which illustrate advances in the knowledge and understanding of craft practice through the production of artefacts that have employed or subverted advances in technology.

As we journey through the 21st Century, the impact of digital communication and its output through new manufacturing techniques provides opportunities that define new relationships, not only of the maker to technique but also to the idea, result and, ultimately, the end user. This paper will present and discuss the work produced for Interface a collaborative exhibition funded by the Arts Council England and developed by Innovate – Centre for Creative Industries, University of Plymouth and the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and other associated applications. Interface is currently on tour throughout the UK. The makers contributing to the exhibition combine a broad range of material processing knowledge and creative abilities with the intelligent application of computer software and digital manufacturing methods.

More recently, there has been increasing debate on how computer based development tools are being filtered into the making process and how the activity could become changed or enhanced by it. The paper documents the creative process of making, tracing the range of experiments and individual strategies developed by each practitioner to integrate the precision associated with digital technologies into the fluidity and changeability of materials within the studio or workshop context.

By extending the practice and theory of contemporary crafts with a focus on the nature of physical objects and the processes by which they are produced, the exhibited work seeks to speculate on the differing theoretical positions one can locate within digital making, raising issues pertinent to future directions and definitions of the Crafts in the 21st Century.

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Dans son exposé, l'auteur présente 'Interface', une exposition en Grande-Bretagne qui est le produit d'une collaboration entre diverses universités et organismes gouvernementaux. Il documente le processus de création d'un nombre d'artisans, et les stratégies qu'ils utilisent pour intégrer la technologie numérique dans leur travail.

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In the last fifty years, the benchmark for success in the crafts has been primarily in their acceptance as art. Despite sometimes working in limited series, craftspeople have tended to shun associations with processes that imply the impersonality of industrial manufacture. We want evidence of the unique hand of the maker and enjoy emotional attachments with objects made by someone we can identify. At the same time, a new hierarchy has developed round 'design', which has its own infrastructure of brands, promotion and identity.

In Australia and New Zealand, the local marketplace for art-craft is supportive but comparatively small, and we are a long way from collectors in bigger population centres. Design implies links with manufacturing through industry, but for some time both the nature and location of manufacture has been changing rapidly. Mass markets are also far away. The reach of industry is increasingly global, and the handmade has always been so personal and local. Or is it? New technologies, new manufacturing centres and changing marketplace preferences are encouraging some craftspeople to revisit ideas to do with design, industry and the handmade. I will look at the work of makers who are exploring a number of options for developing creative and sustainable practices in this changing context.

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Les artisans tendent à rejeter les procédeés manufacturiers propres à l'industrie, ceux-ci étant considérés comme impersonnels. A l'heure des marchés globaux cependant, certains artisans de l'Australie et de la Nouvelle Zélande acceptent de revisiter leur approche vis-à-vis leur travail, le design, et la production industrielle.

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Knitting, along with embroidery, crocheting, and other needlework had traditionally been considered an enjoyable, creative, and useful preoccupation. Women and some men created designs that helped to beautify places that they lived and kept them worm and comfortable in cold weather. In recent years, knitting has gone through an unprecedented revival and had become an appealing hobby for both men and women, young and hip as well as mature and conservative. My research looks at knitting as a cultural phenomenon that constitutes one of the many aspects of the material heritage of England and North America. Production of the handmade knitted objects had been encouraged throughout the middle of the twentieth century. Numerous publications construct knitting as not only worthwhile and altruistic pastime but also as a decadent, self-indulgent and subversive action. For example, Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape offers a bikini pattern as well as other edgy projects such as deepdécolleté tops and seductive hair and head pieces. Knitting had been tied to the ideas of love, piece amongst the nations, meditation, and rebelliousness against the previous generations. I would like to explore how images and text of the knitting literature use the narrative of women liberation, stereotypes (Stitch' N Bitch), gender constructions, and the binary opposition of masculinity vs. femininity (Knitting with Balls: a Hands-On Guide to Knitting for the Modern Man) to reshape audience's understanding of this craft.

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Les travaux d'aiguille, et particulièrement le tricot, connaissent un regain d'intéret majeur. L'auteure situe le tricot dans le contexte du patrimoine culturel anglais et nord-américain. Elle explore les idées et les valeurs traditionnelles rattachées au tricot, ainsi que les idées nouvelles véhiculées à ce sujet par la littérature contemporaine.

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Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing up to the present day, postmodern critiques of modernism and modernity have examined the premises that permitted a universalizing modernism to encompass the entire globe. In particular, their critiques have targeted the fetishization of time over space within the Enlightenment tradition, a binary opposition which pitted the imperatives of progress against the particularities of place. Because the rise of clay practices coincided with this radical re-examination of the traditional inferiority of space vis-à-vis time, the impression was momentarily created that the inversion of this artificial hierarchy would greatly enhance the personal freedom of the artist, as well as function as the basis for a revolt against the tyranny of a homogenizing modernism.

This paper examines the Saskatchewan context for this rejection of the myth of modernism as well as examining the critical terrain upon which the ceramic practitioners in the United States and Canada found a new space in which to stage a revolt against the modernist orthodoxy of New York's most powerful art critic, Clement Greenberg.

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Dans son exposé, l'auteur examine le rejet et la révolte contre le 'mythe du modernisme' par les céramists de la Saskatchewan.

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This paper takes up the topic of protest and knitting, unraveling one section of an intricate web of global relations and antagonisms. While the act of knitting might, at first glance (or touch), seem to have little to do with the circulations of capital and bodies in the current system, I suggest that the work of a number of textile artists, activists and scholars offers an embodied critique of globalization that riffs off more traditional protest, incorporating and embedding both the technologies of virtual space and the very real materiality of the body. Focusing on the network of Revolutionary Knitting Circles, as well as the work of a number of contemporary artists, I examine knitting, an activity traditionally thought of as domestic, feminine, and lacking use connection outside of and against the globalization of capital and far removed from the typical image of the violent and black-clad male anarchist protester. Revolutionary Knitters, I suggest, challenge and extend the means through which representations of the global justice movement are generally filtered – whether through the mainstream media, the internet or even word of mouth. Pushing these ideas further, I hone in on recent work done by a number of artists/activists that uses textiles specifically to communicate oppositional messages, for example, by transforming the language of binary code of computer viruses (and other illegal information) into the stitches of knitting. In doing so, the artists and activists discussed stretch metaphors of linkage through virtual and real projects, and through the careful (inter)weaving of collaborative work, connections through the world to other craft-workers and anti-sweatshop activists, and metaphors of both the global justice movement and the internet as "webs" of interwoven ideas.

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L'auteure explore le tricot en tant que language de protestation à l'échelle mondial, par des artistes du textile ainsi que par des activists. Elle fait particulièrement reference au groupe appellé "Revolutionary Knitting Circles" (les Cercles de Tricot Revolutionnaires).

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The visibility and the viability of craft research has until 2007 been subsumed as a subset of design and applied art. Craft researchers have had to tailor their thinking to fit accordingly.

In craft writings and communication in general, the subject of aesthetics is often discussed through material and technologies rather than the visual and experiential intent. What has been missing is comparability or evidence of the values that unite the crafts discipline and communication of the critical thinking. Craft is a dialogue concerned with development of a body of work created over a significant period of time, with incremental shifts of knowledge, which build cumulatively. New Craft Future Voices is about shattering the perception or reality of craft as an instrument of discourse where the maker's voice is locked in the object and the interpretation is 'gifted' to the viewer.

A concern for craft research is the bifurcation between the visual and written content. Why? There appears to be a continuing disjuncture of quality in terms of communication of the holistic methodology of craft. We observe that the written content of exhibition writings expose the need to develop visual references and deeper visual contextualisation. Historical and theoretical references and research frameworks are communicated but there remains a gap in terms of visual referencing. However, most impressively the research culture is impacting on visual objects, moving practice at a greater speed than has been visible since the 1980s. It has arguably taken us collectively 22 years to see this culture emerging in practice.

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Les auteures exposent les lacunes que l'on retrouve au niveau de la recherche sur les pratiques de métiers d'art, où le discours est base sur les matériaux et les techniques, plutôt que sur l'expèrientiel et le visuel.

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Among all living things, and possibly inert ones as well, humans are the only ones with the capacity to think (we think). This capacity for thinking gives us a consciousness of the world: we know that we exist, that we are born and that we will die, that we are temporal beings, with a past, a present and a future. And this consciousness requires that we make sense of the world. We do this through language, spoken and written words, literature, fiction, theory, science, religion, history, also with music and song. We do this as well by creating images, and we do it by creating objects. Each of these categories of action upon the world is distinct yet connected to the others. Object making is probably the oldest making activity of humankind and we can speculate that it preceded the development of language and the making of images.

And the history of art is really the history of images.

In the world as it exists and as we experience it, there are two complementary phenomena, usually perceived and presented as distinct: i.e. nature and culture. Nature encompasses all the things (among other things) that exist outside humankind yet includes humankind itself. Culture is what humans do to nature. The world of culture is vast and complex, as is nature. Material culture is more specifically concerned with physical things : architecture, engineering, design, crafts and objects of all kinds (fashion, textiles, furniture, jewelry, pottery and other containers in all their forms and materials, etc.), but also with all manifestations of image making (what is now usually called "visual culture"). This paper will examine how all of these aspects of material/visual culture are contributing their own potential to what is generally known as art, the world of creativity and expression, perception and aesthetics while questioning why the history of art is still largely the history of images, of things that are visually experienced, of visual art.

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Dans l'histoire de l'humanité, la creation d'objets d'art en trios dimensions a precede la creation d'images. Dans son exposé, l'auteur révèle que les historiens sont cependant plus intéressées à ces dernières, alors que le concept d'"art" est considérablement plus vaste.

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The phrase "identity crisis" has been frequently used to describe the current state of contemporary craft. This identity crisis came to a head when several prominent educational and cultural institutions dropped "craft" from their names, choosing to exist under the banner of "art" and in some cases "design." The actions of these institutions demonstrated that the public image of craft is in shambles—the word itself evokes stigmas and stereotypes of non-normativity and Otherness that museums and schools are hesitant to be affiliated with. The topic of identity is also a contentious issue within craft's own infrastructure and there is heated debate over the word craft itself, as well great concern regarding its current and future relevance to contemporary culture.

In the past fifteen years another discipline has predicated itself on virtues considered non-normative, "Other," and peculiar. Queer theory has taken stereotypes rife with notions of Otherness and non-normativity to re-imagine and reconfigure identities that resist categorization and labels and simultaneously question the systems that position them as Other to create, maintain, and proliferate hierarchies of power. The tactics of reclamation, re-appropriation, performance, and disidentification utilized in queer theory and praxis give nonnormative identities agency, and question the seemingly stable systems that render them as Other. These tactics acknowledge stereotypes, flip them, and then subvert them to form new models of identity.

This paper looks at three makers: Lia Cook, Liz Collins, and Josh Faught to show how stereotypes of craft can be re-configured using the sequence of reclamation, re-appropriation, performance, and dis-identitifcation. Through an examination of their materials, processes, and the spaces in which they choose to exhibit their work, these makers break down prescribed categories of material and visual culture. They host within themselves a range of identities that make it impossible for them to have their practices pinned down.

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L'auteure parle de la crise d'identité que subit le terme "craft", aujourd'hui stigmatisé dans les milieux culturels, artistiques, et éducatifs. Elle établit une comparaisson entre ce mot et les precepts de la "Queer Theory", en vue de la réclamation et de la réappropriation de ce terme ambigü, pour lui restorer son pouvoir.

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This paper examines the persistence of a traditional craft into the modern era. Textile production using bark, mountain goat wool, and the hair of woolly dogs by the people of British Columbia's southern coastal cultures has been established for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years. However, the arrival of Hudson Bay blankets and commercial yardage as trade goods in the early 19th century eroded the responsibility of weavers as creators of objects for ceremonial and daily use. By the beginning of the 20th century this attrition had resulted in the extinction of the woolly dog and the loss of much of the traditional weaving technology and knowledge. Twice in the past century, Salish weavers have attempted to revitalize production of traditional textiles. A third attempt is now underway to establish contemporary Salish textiles as a marker of identity and as products for a new global art market. This paper presents the process and the objectives of a craft revitalization in the Coast Salish communities. The authors review the impact of expanding interest in the communities, of the spread of traditional and technical knowledge and of the increasing symbolic important of Salish textiles in public and private ceremonial life. Drawing on the work of anthropological theorists such as Gill and Gupta the paper examines the re-emergence of weaving as a complex intertwining of "agency" and "place" and the establishment of identity through craft in both a local and global context.

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L'auteure adresse la produc'tion de textile des Salish de la Colombie-Britannique, mode d'artisanat traditionnel et millénaire. Elle examine les changements qu'on subit cette production depuis le 19e siècle, et parle du regain d'intéret de cette communauté envers cette forme d'art d'une importance fondamentale pour l'identité Salish.

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Writer and academic Love Jönsson will participate on the Future directions in craft research panel by examining how Scandinavian research into the crafts parallels and differs from the North American perspectives presented at Neocraft.

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L'écrivaine Love Jönsson participera à la table ronde intitulée "Future Directions in Craft Research", où seront comparées les différences et les similirarités entre la recherche académiques scandinave et américaine.

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Is there today a conflict between the real and the virtual, the hand-made and the digitally processed, or could their relation be described in other terms? Starting from an analysis of a selection of Scandinavian crafts and design projects, this paper argues that old dichotomies are now being challenged and needs to be looked upon with fresh eyes. Even if the attractiveness of basic craft materials and methods at first glance seems to correspond to a hunger for 'the real', as opposed to 'the virtual', a closer scrutiny often shows that the two fields are more and more intertwined. A lot of contemporary movements in the crafts cannot unambiguously be inscribed into an account of anti-modern or anti-technologic ideals. Instead, the makers self-confidently appropriate new technology and use it for their own goals, combining it with traditional methods and values.

Rather than focusing on the digital as a threat, or as a paradigmatic shift, the paper tries to shed light on the complex grid of interlocking meanings that is currently woven between the handmade and the digital, the physical and the immaterial. Attention is given to the fact that the use of digital technology in the crafts not only may change our view of the crafts, but also our notions of technology and its functions in society.

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Existe-il un conflit entre le 'réel' ou le fait main, et la réalité virtuelle? A partir d'objets de production artisanale scandinaves, l'auteure dispute ls nécessité de cette notion. Elle démontre comment ces artisans exploitent à leur fin les avantages offerts par la technologie numérique, en les mariant aux façons de faire traditionnelles.

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Gillian McMillan, a Vancouver-area potter, worked with veteran Canadian artist Eric Metcalfe on "The Attic Project" – a body of work that was exhibited nationally. She produced vessels in the style of ancient Greece, and Metcalfe painted them in his trademark 'camouflage' patterns. This paper examines how McMillan found she had a far different relationship to the pots than did Metcalfe. For him, they were forms that evoked a specific period in history and were, as such, vehicles for his conceptual concerns; for her, they were a direct, physical connection to potters that lived 2500 years ago.

McMillan, as a craftsperson, found aspects of the project that allowed her to maintain and cherish a sense of continuity and community. Metcalfe's purpose was to critique and rupture. This project highlights both tensions between the artist and the craftsperson as well as the possibilities for reunion, for making the old binaries redundant. The lessons of collaboration have been very personal ones for McMillan, pushing her to find self-confidence, assertiveness and new skills in her ceramic work. Metcalfe, as well, found his practice affected by the exchange fostered by this project.

This collaboration and resulting exhibit highlight notions of display, value, aesthetics, history, economics and epistemology. It embodies Paul Greenhalgh's statement from his introduction to The Persistence of Craft that "The key to success has been found in the willingness to collaborate." The revelations and questions raised for those of us working in craft are valuable and timely.

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L'auteure présente le travail de collaboration de deux céramistes canadiens – Gillian McMillan et Eric Metcalfe – dans le cadre de leur exposition à l'échelle nationale "The Attic Project". Elle explore la différence de leurs perceptions vis-à-vis ce travail.

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Craft practices require a specific rapport between hand and mind, and this relationship probably altered early human thought. Anthropologist Mary Frame proposes that 3D processes such as plaiting stretched the human brain to think abstractly, because the process engaged predictable spacial positions for the elements employed. As an example Pre Columbian Andean artisans, who functioned in the vertical as well as more prevalent horizontal environment, developed the most sophisticated textile structures documented. Many pieces are thought to embody a complex and little understood narrative of visual language, chemistry and power.

I propose that craft practices are still the way we engage life and the natural world beyond verbal language. We alter while being altered by the actions that we repeat. If we are changed by what we do and how we think, then how we are changing ourselves today? The popularity of hobbycraft stores, vacation trips to PEI that include craft workshops in candle-making, ceramics, knitting are significant, as are accessible hobbies such as scrapbooking, DIY decorating and renovation. These all speak to the ways that humans try to reconnect with the concrete, by the interactions of hand and mind. Conceiving of, and making, objects of utility and beauty stimulate and nourish us even though our daily needs could be easily met by mass production. Craftmaking at its highest levels is fundamental, meticulous, the melding of material and process. Once denigrated for its slowness, learning a craft still offers us a way into the future, prepared for the waiting challenges.

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L'auteure suggère que les actions manuelles de créations transforment la matière, tout en nous transformant. Elle explore l'engouement actuel pour les pratiques artisanales comme une nécessité d'engagement profond avec le monde naturel et le concret, engagement qui va au-delà de la parole.

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Systems for Slow(er) Structures is a research base for collaborations between sustainable architectural practices and unique indigenous knowledge. Locally, this project aims to promote economic and social well-being of families in Southeastern China, within the larger objective of environmental sustainment. Globally, it aims to codify and make available endangered systems of knowledge and to produce transferable multi-disciplinary models for sustainment of craft cultures in changing societies.

China occupies a pivotal position in the global economy and a fragile space in the sphere of culture. While it seems that most consumer commodities today are Made in China, and as a corollary, that China is 'the factory of the world', China is also recognized for its long history of systems innovation. Networks of indigenous ways and means originating centuries ago in China have new applications within the context of design for environmental sustainment and hold virtually untapped potential as models for future innovations.

The Systems for Slow(er) Structures research base would function as an inquiry on cultural and community preservation in the era of post-planning in China, an experimental collaboration for the development of transferable, exportable models that generate profits via locally tailored models at sustainable scales of growth. Projects will be structured to produce ethical inquiries in the contested realm of sustainable development in Post-colonial Asia.

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À l'heure de changements majeurs survenants en Chine, l'auteure présente une investigation sur l'importance de la préservation de la culture et des connaissances chinoises, en matière de pratiques architecturales artisanales.

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This paper discusses the historical development, domesticity and social change associated with starched mats or doilies, as they were later known in the 1930's – 1940's. It examines the composite knit and crochet structures produced by combining the mathematical chartering and the complexities of geometry with intricate knitting and crochet construction techniques to create organic fluidity in the design form and counter form.

For decades doilies designed for domestic interiors and produced in a time of economic depression have lay discarded, neglected and abandoned. This paper examines how renewed interest in the form and counter form of the doily has transformed the starched mat from an item of familiarity and domesticity to be reinterpreted and utilized in the work of contemporary designers from many disciplines.

This paper will review the interface between traditional and contemporary design techniques and analyses how designers from other disciplines have drawn on the potential of pattern, construction, scale and form adapted from the hand worked doily to create new and innovative designs using new technologies. Selectively it discusses the work of a number of designers in the specialist fields of fashion, textiles, furniture, interior, jewellery and ceramics in illustrating the contemporary development and reinterpretation of the doily, as a source of inspiration and increasingly as the integral part of design form.

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Cet exposé traite de l'histoire du napperon crocheté à la main – tel que produit dans les années 30 et 40 – et révèle la richesse et la complexité mathématique de sa géométrie. Ces objets de conception artisanale, quoique négligés depuis des décennies, connaissent un regain de popularité auprès des artistes contemporains.

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While venerable Italian fashion houses owe their recent success to global expansion and the emergence of new and promising markets, their histories are firmly rooted in family artisan craftsmanship. The fashion and textile industries in Italy have succeeded internationally precisely because of their long, established traditions. Since World War II, Milan, as the industrial heartland of Italy, has refined the way in which traditional crafts and artisanal practices, premised on the family unit, have been fused with technological progress and commercial innovation. Since then, in an increasingly competitive world market, Italians are opting to have their couture garments produced in China or by illegal Chinese immigrants in Italy rather than turning to costlier traditional hand made craftsman. On the other hand, designers, influenced by the markets they are invading, often deploy traditional craftsman quality finishes, weaves, fabrics, and styles from around the world in their process of forging an ambiguous, yet definitively 'ethnic' global style, purportedly to suit the needs of their global consumers. By exploring influential fashion houses like Prada and Giorgio Armani, this paper seeks to expose the unique and tense relationships between the global and national, tradition and progress, and craft and technology in the ways designers purposefully deploy textiles in their collections. In other words, in this new climate of global expansionism and ethnic influences how do designers still successfully translate the ideals of 'Made in Italy' to a global culture?

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L'auteur présente la situation de l'industrie du textile et de la mode en Italie, industrie traditionnelle en transition. Il explore ces changements et les tensions occasionnées par l'échelle nationale et mondiale.

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The suit is one of the most iconic of modern garments. It emerged with the establishment of the fashion system in the West in the fourteenth-century, shadowing the evolution of capitalism and the growth of urban societies. From its earliest moments, as several scholars have observed, the suit therefore embodied a fundamental contradiction: between unchanging uniformity and the ever-shifting demands of consumer culture.

By focusing on its material and intrinsic qualities – and particularly the circumstances of its production, this paper will examine the functional and symbolic uses to which the suit has been put: as a marker of forms of labour, as a sign of social status, as a cipher for modernity, as an eroticized object of desire, as a weapon of style, as a product of local and globalised imperatives and as a vehicle for creative expression.

Structured around the making of a 'real' bespoke Savile Row suit (made for and worn by the speaker), the paper will demonstrate how the layered meanings and seeming simplicity of construction of the suit lend themselves to limitless exploration.

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Depuis son apparition au 14e siècle, le complet a rempli une multitude de functions, don't la plupart sont purement symboliques. Dans son exposé, l'auteur atteste des multiples niveaux où se situe le complet et ce, malgré la simplicité de sa construction.

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There can be little doubt that, unlike cars, coffee machines and cameras, modern interiors are not thought of as the results of mass-production for the most part. Rather the possibilities of variation within them are (almost?) infinite. This paper will address the question of whether or not, however, the modern interior can be said to be 'crafted'.

Depending on what approach is taken towards the creation of interior spaces, whether, that is, they are understood as being 'decorated' or 'designed', the roles of individualism, history, memory, personal expression and identity can be seen to either dominate, or be dominated by, those of the serial production of interior items, architectural standardisation and social utopianism. Given the ubiquity of their representation within contemporary culture interiors also arguably combine the idea of the 'real' with that of the 'ideal' in a unique way. In this speculative paper I will examine this ambivalence within our understanding of the modern interior through a selection of twentieth-century case-studies and reach some tentative conclusions about its relationship with the idea of 'craft'.

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L'auteure introduit une réflexion pour nos espaces intérieurs modernes, et la façon unique don't ils combinent la "réalité" et "l'idéal" ou l'utopique. Notre identité, nos souvenirs, et notre individualité sont étroitement liés à la production en série d'objets de décoration, ainsi qu'à la standardisation des espaces intérieurs.

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There has been growing awareness in the Caribbean region about the importance of maintaining traditional artisanal skills. However, like many other regions, there is an escalating problem with the artisans' unsustainable use of traditional materials (e.g., lignum vitae & blue mahoe hardwood trees) to make new craft products, especially for the burgeoning tourism market.

The challenge, therefore, is to create new directions in traditional craft production, especially for the future development of heritage tourism in local communities. However, there are many difficulties to be overcome. As a small island developing state (SIDS), Jamaica, like many Caribbean nation-states, is vulnerable to external paroxysms to its social, economic and environmental spaces. The craft history of Jamaica is replete with examples of beautifully-imagined and designed craft objects and product lines, which have unfortunately died from lack of nurturing and care. Fortunately, a select group of 'neo' Jamaican craft makers continue to explore taking Jamaican craft in new directions. They are confronting the established definitions, traditions and critical contexts of Jamaican craft, while re-interpreting it within new and exciting global influences.

This paper will look examine Jamaican and Caribbean craft developments that are redefining the postmodern craft movement in Jamaica, especially in the area of renewable resources (e.g. bamboo, stone and clay) and the potential for substituting recyclable products (e.g. metal, glass, plastics) as a means to relieve pressures on the natural environment.

Basically, my research hopes to help answer the questions, how can we place Caribbean craft in a larger cultural context, and in which new directions should Caribbean craft education, training and development go? Many old stereotypes about Caribbean craft still obtain and many of our academics cannot seem to see the link between craft development and economic development of micro- and small business enterprises in this field for sustainable development.

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L'auteure examine les pratiques traditionnelles des artisans jamaicains – pratiques délétères pour l'environnement – et qui s'éfforcent à combler les besoins croissants du marché touristiques. Certains artisans cependant, ont adopté avec success une approche basée sur la technologie et l'utilisation des resources renouvelables.

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It is increasingly apparent that environmental degradation will be the most pressing concern of the 21st century and that it will, increasingly, demand concrete and effective responses. The crafts might not play an important part in these responses, but they might also, in so doing, become a vehicle for weakening the hegemony of industrialism over the artificial and built environment.

Addressing ecological concerns requires that we think in terms of the complex interrelationships between phenomena. All too often in the crafts and design these matters have been addressed on a shallow aesthetic level that does not address the issues of either real ecological impact or long-term sustainability. Alternately, the problems have been treated as merely technical, and the solutions have been insensitive to complexities of life and culture, offering no real alternative to consumerism.

The aspects of crafts practice that will be relevant to a more ecologically sustainable future are: a high labour and skill content and comparatively low energy consumption; the making of lasting products; a pre-industrial tradition of sparingness and, above all else, the capacity to respond to the particulars of place and time.

Industrialisation has reduced almost all human activity to the level of "labour", characterised by Hannah Arendt as the forever repeated activity that leaves no historical trace. It may be that the environmental crises of the twenty first century will provide the catalyst for a revival of Arendt's second category of activity, "work" which cuts across the ruthless cycles of time, projecting traces of memory into a future beyond the landfill.

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L'auteur place la production artisanale du 21e siècle dans un contexte d'écologie en crise. Il explore les principales charactéristiques de cette production, telles: l'économie d'énergie, des produits qui endurent et qui sont adaptés à leur environnement, ainsi qu'une main-d'oeuvre hautement qualifiée.

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Much of the debate about the place of the crafts in contemporary culture has revolved around their economic viability as commercial production, or their justification and status as visual art/ culture. An historically evolved model of modern art practice – focuses on imagistic or performed significance, innovation, and artistic intentionality- has been overlaid on the crafts, with little critical though or study of the adequacy of its fit to the actual concerns or characteristics of the crafts. Efforts to justify the crafts as a form of visual art/ culture have obscured the limitations of the visual art paradigm for understanding the cultural significance of crafts activity in ways that may not be significant in the visual art world. Thus the education the craftspeople and the criteria of assessment of interpretation of crafts works have become primarily oriented to the dominant concerns, theories and underlying presuppositions of visual art/ culture, rather than to the intrinsic concerns of the makers and users themselves.

This paper will examine the continuing domination of the visual art/ culture paradigm in the education of Canadian craftspeople, especially in degree programmes, and the specific limitations imposed by institutionalized structures and beliefs that govern its form and content. The benefits of incorporating a broader material culture approach in crafts education, including other kinds of scholarship with pertinence for the crafts will be discussed.

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Dans le débat qui entoure la place qu'occupent des métiers d'art dans l'art contemporain, le modèle utilisé est le même qui est appliqué à la pratique des beaux-arts. Or ce modèle ne tient pas compte des charactéristiques spécifiques aux métiers d'art, ni aux préoccupations des artistes. L'éducation des artisans canadiens y est subordonnée et donc, insatisfaisante. L'auteure dispute la validité de ce modèle pour l'enseignement des métiers d'art, et offre des alternatives.

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I will explore the decline in status of "craft" both as a set of disciplines and as the honored name for skill in creation. I begin with the separation of the Fine Art from craft and the successful efforts of Ruskin, Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement to restore its dignity, leading to the studio craft movement. From 1960s, however, the craft world was increasingly divided by a "crafts-as-art" movement that insisted studio crafts must be called "art," a trend that culminated in the 2002 decision of the American Craft Museum to drop the word "craft" from its title.

At the same time that "craft" as the name for a set of disciplines was disappearing, the belief in the artist's need for craft skills was under threat. About the time the "crafts-as-art" movement was beginning to succeed, Warhol flaunted the fact that the works he conceived were made by others in his "factory and the Conceptual, Installation and Performance approaches to art often depreciated skill. Artists in all sorts of media, from print making to sculpture, began to see themselves as generators of ideas that others could fabricate. In the midst of these moves away from craftsmanship, the emergence of computer generated images meant that even the basic skills of drawing began to seem obsolete.

I close by examining two roots of this historical decline, one inherent in the concept of fine art from the beginning, the other a sociological/semantic artifact that has associated "craft" with hobbies and kitsch.

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L'auteur présente l'histoire du concept de "craft" depuis Ruskin et Morris, et le déclin subséquent de son statut. Il explore cet état de fait en explorant les raisons historiques de sa séparation avec les Beaux-Arts d'une part, et la dépréciation des habiletés manuelles dans la "Factory" d'Andy Warhol, d'autres part.

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Natural dyes are thought to be about colour. Yet gender, rank and cultural expectations are explicit in a 14th century woodcut where the sexual tension between a male dyer and his client (conveniently female) interrogates current attention to historical luxury and consumption, and value-added textile production for a niche market. (1) Dyes are in reality consumed. Historical imagery communicates details which enables and in-depth and more 'art history' analysis focused on the visible/invisible, authentic/fake, and real/imagined attributes of dyes. (2)

This one image, and other medieval biblical representations of dyeing, raise questions relevant to modern craft. Is the present historical gaze sufficiently broad? Can craft accommodate visual representations that more conventionally fall within the historical imprimatur of 'fine art'? Does the subject (in this case, consumption) convey aspects of gender (the sexual interaction between dyer and client) useful in decoding the modern gaze?

Another case in point is the numerous medieval depictions of Jesus as an apprentice dyer. Here, the religious context of the imagery advances the metaphor of dyeing as a ritual conversion similar to baptism. There are additional examples where God is located within the image as the Master Dyer, his presence affirming the process of personal transformation achieved just as cloth is passed through a vat of dye and thereby transformed.

Visual representations of artisinal dyeing illuminate tradition. This culminative evidence suggests the need for a long gaze if craft history is to become as developed and nuanced as art history.

1. Maxine Berg and Helen Clifford, eds. Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650-1850. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1999.

2. See Rosalind Jones and Peter Stallybrass, 'Irish Mantles and Yellow Starch as Hybrid London Fashion.' Chapter 2, pp.128-149, in: L. Cowen Orlin ed., Material London Circa 1600. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2000.

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L'auteure analyse une gravure sur bois médiévale en vue de commenter sur la representation symbolique du teinturier dans le passé – et par extension, de la teinture. Elle présente une reflexion sur l'utilisation comtemporaire de la teinture, et sa symbolique.

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My virtual textiles reach out through digital/computer technology constructing a radical space that is at once disconcerting, at the same time liberating, releasing the viewer from the confines of limited Human-Machine Interfaces, (HMI), via a pre-conditioned sensory response linked to hand and eye.

My craft based art-work has a process-Centric basis. My layering of technology and textile craft; parallels merging hand-dyed, shibori-zomé (thread resist) textiles with Virtual Reality panoramic environments, fully rotatable textile sculptures dance with existing web and giclée digital print technologies. Circadian Textures1 and kNot-Here Vsn 1.332, invite participation in alternate interaction possibilities. Memory, time based repetitions, and multi-sensorial interaction, transmitted digitally, invoke thought provoking responses. These works speak to and play with perceived standards in digital art and Human- Machine Interface technologies.

Exploring the many layers of these themes. I am trying to create touchable, textile-based transmedia experiences that challenge and surmount the assumptions surrounding digital-mediated interactivity.

My presentation will discuss the above work and present research related to my MFA thesis and thesis show to be held in Spring 2007.

1. Circadian Textures is hosted online by OBORO Gallery at http://www.oboro. net/webproj/VdW/index.html

2. "kNotHERE vsn 1.33" is part of "Transmutations: Valerie Walker and Mark Nelson", at the Design Gallery, UW-Madison, WI, USA. 27 September – 22 October 2006 http://www.visualculture.wisc.edu/Conference/Concurrent/designgallery.htm

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L'artiste pousse au maximum son exploration de l'interaction entre le monde des textiles et celui de la haute technologie.

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This lecture titled Ware About will ponder the state of discourse pertaining to ceramics. This ongoing quest will address various issues regarding language, signs, and interpretation of ceramic images, and the threat the Al Jolson Syndrome poses to the genre.

The presentation will be divided into two major conceptual parts. The first will be Where Do We Come From? The second section will develop the idea of Where Are We Going, and will also explore the notion of Going Nowhere With Al Jolson, and will conclude with We Could Be Going Somewhere. Ware About is about the singularity of ceramics as an autonomous artistic language and the exciting intellectual and liberating possibilities and benefits such an approach can offer. It will also point to the inappropriateness of semantics commonly utilized when discussing it. Historic and contemporary artefacts will be unabashedly juxtaposed and discussed to support and stress my thesis.

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"D'ou venons-nous ?" et "Où allons-nous ?" sont les questions adressées par l'auteur dans son exploration de la céramique contemporaine. Il examine cette forme d'art en tant que language artistique autonome, et les possibilities d'ouverture d'une telle approche.

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In January 1905, the London-based art journal The Studio singled out a magnificent hand-tufted wool carpet with Celtic design woven by rural Irish women working at the Dun Emer Guild. In the article that accompanied a photograph of the carpet, the journal praised the Dun Emer craftswomen for their ability to produce the swirling interlace pattern of the carpet, something very difficult to work in hand-weaving. Further investigation of this piece reveals that in addition to its visibly Irish design, both this object's materials and makers were Irish. Thus, this paper takes as its starting point the 'Irishness' woven into this Dun Emer carpet, by both its makers and by the press. As such, it seeks to expand a discussion of this exquisite textile to include how the object is 'culturally marked' and how perceptions of the object change according to variables in its 'biography'.

Founded as part of the home arts movement, the Dun Emer Guild (1902) played a vital role in advocating the handmade, supporting rural regeneration, and promoting artistic innovation in early twentieth century Ireland. Dun Emer weaving and tapestry regularly received awards at national and international exhibitions. This acclaim allowed the Guild's founders to advance an agenda of social and political activism based on fostering the self-sufficiency of women through craft production. However, when examining the Dun Emer carpet reproduced in The Studio, it is worth considering what the possible emotional, social and aesthetic investment was for the working-class women engaged in the social and artistic experiment of the home arts movement. Thus, this paper also seeks to uncover the multiple layering of gender, class and ethnicity involved in the production and reception of this recognizably Irish carpet and the women who crafted it.

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L'auteure analyse, dans son contexte historique et politique, la production et son accueil par le public, d'un tapis tissé par les artisans de la guilde Dun Emer, en Irlande en 1905.

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Drawing upon an ethnographic study based in Portugal, this paper will explore the complex relationship between traditional and innovative craft and design. The economic impact of classifying craft as either artisan or fine craft production is enormous. It also defines the institutional and cultural categorization of "ethnocraft." It is essential to approach craft in the context of social group dynamics, understanding the impact of categorizing work as artisanal. Theoretical developments examining aesthetics and reception make it possible to initiate an anthropological theory for the crafts.

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Formuler en anglais l'interrogation "When is craft?" la place dans le sillage de celle soulevée par Nelson Goodman à propos de l'art et contribue à indiquer certaines difficultés de traduction et donc aussi de définition d'une notion floue. à partir d'une ethnographie réalisée au Portugal, une tentative de clarification conceptuelle examinera ici un processus de relance et certification de broderies accompagné de complexes relations entre la production traditionnelle, l'innovation et le design.

Les approches économiques ou formalistes de "l'artisanat" et des "métiers d'art" privilégient l'analyse soit d'un mode de production, soit des caractéristiques matérielles des artefacts. Elles négligent certaines manières qu'a cette réalité plurielle de s'articuler sur les phénomènes d'instrumentalisation économicopolitique et d'institution de la culture et sur les processus identitaires, entre l'oxymore des traditions inventées et l'apparent pléonasme d'un "ethnocraft".

Il importe de les compléter par une approche contextualisée et relationnelle des dynamiques en jeu entre les groupes sociaux engagés dans l'attribution de la qualité d'"artisanat" à certaines activités et certains objets, notamment quand les usages de cette catégorie ne correspondent pas tous à la définition qu'en donne l'élite qui se veut son défenseur. Les développements suscités par la théorie traductologique des polysystèmes et par l'approche littéraire de l'esthétique de la réception indiquent de possibles éléments d'une théorie anthropologique de l'artisanat préoccupée d'en analyser les évolutions les plus actuelles.

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"Craft is common. It is common in having low status. It is common as something in which so many of us participate. Our crafts are common in being unsanctioned; they have not been much raked for the production of 'genius', they remain our property and embody our domestic values." (1)

This paper will examine the proposition that the dominant discourse surrounding craft, particularly women's craft, has a tendency towards "closure", that is to say limits or boundaries are placed upon such practices in terms of their production, and more importantly, their reception. As a consequence of these restraints, which it will be argued are often ideological in origin, such practices are given low status in the hierarchy of the arts, and additionally are seen as inherently conservative in nature and incapable of critically challenging the status quo.

In the first part I will examine the legacy of historical attitudes towards women and craft, particularly textiles, tracing the process by which sewing was relegated to the second division of "minor" or "lesser" arts, and became linked to a historically specific view of femininity.

Following this I will briefly examine the role of women ceramicists in the first part of the twentieth century, to further support my argument that craft is viewed and constructed as essentially a conservative activity.

Finally the paper will look at the impact of feminist thought on the visual arts, and the way this has encouraged many women artists and craftswomen to develop work which reflects and is relevant to people's lives and experiences, consciously engaging in social and political debate. I hope, by doing this, to stimulate thought, explore the issues, and question some of the assumptions made about crafts and "women's work."

1. Elinor, G., Richardson, S., Scott, S., Thomas A., Walker D., (editors), Women and Craft, pub. 1987, Virago Press Ltd., London.

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L'auteure explore les activités de production artisanale par les femmes et leur perception historique en tant qu'activités conservatrices et "inférieures". Il parle de l'impact qu'à exercée l'idéologie féministe à cet effet.

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