- Authors: Martin Quinn & Divya Jyoti
The Role(s) of Craft in Local and Regional Economies
Abstract
Our paper will explore the multiple roles craft organizations perform within their local and regional economies. It will begin by evidencing the direct economic contribution of craft through employment and GDP. After discussing the traditional economic contribution, we will highlight the more indirect or intangible roles of craft in local economies including the contribution of craft to place development and place identity. We will illustrate how craft ecosystems play a key role in enabling an understanding the history and heritage of a region, preservation of skills in the local economy and place branding linked to creativity and innovation. These roles generate another role for craft – as a beacon to attract people to visit and buy craft with the subsequent knock-on benefits for other sectors in the economy. We will conclude by outlining a crucial yet underdiscussed role of craft in building bridges for left behind people and places within regional economies through inclusive arts programmes.
- Author: Francesca Leonardi & Luca Pareschi
Crafting Sustainability: Unpacking Economic, Environmental and Social Challenges in Craft-making Practices
Abstract
Craft has recently been presented as a response to crisis, in particular referring to climate change and conflict (Niedderer et al., 2024). It has also been associated with degrowth as a response and an alternative to capitalism, recognizing the prioritization of human engagement over machine control, the de-commodification and dealienation of labor (Vincent, Brandellero, 2023; Patel, 2024; Kroezen et al., 2021), capable of instigating radical organizational, societal, and ecological transformations (Schaefer and Hallonsten, 2023) and prefiguring alternative economic models (Schiller-Merkens, 2022). However, is the work of a craft-maker really sustainable from an economic, psychological and environmental point of view? Or is it subject to self-exploitative forms of work, dynamics of production and mass consumption, touristification, and job precarity too, as is common for creative jobs (Towse, 1992)?
Using a multidimensional definition of sustainability applied to craft (Søraa, Fyhn, 2017), which includes economic, environmental and social sustainability, the paper addresses if/how craft is/can be a more sustainable option in terms of environmental impact, job meaningfulness, well-being, and economic viability. The article studies the sustainability of the craft community of Bornholm (Denmark), a particularly significant craft ecosystem since it is the first island in the world and the first region in Europe to become a World Craft Region. The paper uses a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and a co-creation workshop organized with the craft community of Bornholm (September 2024).
Results link the challenges of craft-making work, such as innovating tradition and developing a personal style, with the structural precarity, lack of funds and grants to support creative careers, and the difficulties of having income stability also due to the seasonality of tourists on the island. Critical aspects also involve the environmental impact of craft production, in terms of procuring materials, mass consumption, waste and reuse; and also struggles on a psychological and social level related to personal well-being and stress. Participants highlighted several potential pathways for improving sustainability in the craft sector. These include creating communal workspaces, improving access to funding, fostering collaborations with other industries, and providing education on sustainable practices. Institutional support, both economic and logistic, was seen as critical to enabling craft makers to continue their work in a way that is both economically viable and environmentally responsible.
By addressing these challenges in a holistic way, this paper analyses in depth and in practice the concept of sustainability applied to craft and suggests recommendations on how to mitigate the precarity of craft careers, while also proposing the concept of professional sustainability, emerging from the situated work of craft-makers in their respective ecosystems.
- Author: Chiara Carolina Donelli
Circularity in the Wastescene: Art's uncomfortable answer
- Authors: Silviya Svejenova, Eva Boxenbaum & Carla Maldonado
Craft as a Nexus: Weaving Community, Creativity, Collaboration, and Change
Abstract
This paper explores the connecting and transformative power of craft. Drawing on our involvement in the multi-year funded project “Textile in Tingbjerg,” which aims to foster active citizenship through craft in one of Copenhagen’s most ethnically diverse neighborhoods (home to 80 nationalities and where 80% of residents are immigrants, predominantly from non-Western background), we examine how a craft-centered project and workshop can become a vibrant nexus for community, creativity, collaboration, and change both within and beyond the neighborhood. We trace how the project evolved through the engagement of a diverse and dynamic network comprising local community members, a social housing organization, an immigrant café, cultural institutions (such as the local library and church, and leading national museums), recognized artists, and textile and organizational researchers from universities.
Inspired by organizational theories of craft and institutional theories of social innovation and change, we investigate how engaging in and around craft not only facilitates creativity and connections across multiple diversities but also fosters a sense of shared (craft-centered) identity and purpose. Through the support of collaborative efforts and inspiration from artists in residence, craft workshop participants develop skills and incorporate their own histories, heritage, and dreams into the creation of beautiful craftwork (exhibited and sold in museums and at fairs), while also expanding their social networks and gaining confidence for active engagement in the workshop and the neighborhood. The project also inspires various actors to go beyond their usual field of work and expand their engagement with partners and society.
We argue that such initiatives can drive sustainable social innovation and change, serving as exemplars for other public and private actors. We also address some challenges in sustaining craft as a nexus, emphasizing the importance of local role models and community-weavers, as well as the need for a social infrastructure that supports collaboration and creativity across diversities and dynamic participation. Ultimately, we discuss how creativity and collaboration can position craft as a powerful catalyst for place-based communities and social change.
- Author: Illaria Belometti
Social Craftsmanship. Exploring the Intersection Between Creative Making and Community Building Among Devonshire and Veneto
Abstract
In recent decades, handicrafts have taken a new role: from a manual practice aimed to produce objects of artistic value, to a social practice that manages to unite communities through the “use of hands”. The objects created are no longer the purpose of an artistic creation but became the means of social aggregation: a social craft. Groups of enthusiasts and amateurs form, to learn new craft activities and create shared social moments. People love experimenting with new forms of manual skills for a reason that is as simple as it is powerful: because they enjoy doing it. Sociability, fun, emotions and new skills developing, at least we can use the definitions “craft edutainment” or “craft gamification”, are the core of this new way of habiting a craft. No exclusive importance is attached to the aesthetics of the result, or its market positioning. The trend is not entirely new; during the Victorian era, do it yourself kits were in vogue for sewing and embroidery or repairing household items. Many distinguished thinkers of the last decade have criticized manual labor that is not strictly artistic or canonic, but today, we have a different sensibility related to artistic practices that is broader and more flexible. This is a radical shift, that alters business models and future prospective. An intrinsic change rushing in the conception and the philosophy of what craft is, what is considered craft today as opposed to in the past, and the consequences crafting can bring in the different spheres of society where it can be an accelerator of positive change. Pandemic lockdown reshaped our relationship with handicrafts: learning a manual skill while stuck at home was a good idea to invest our time. The end of the pandemic has confronted us with the emergence of an increasing number of handicraft amateurs, demanding face-to-face courses, shops, fairs and new meeting groups. Outcomes are different between
England and Italy, depending on cultural reasons, public policies adopted, differences in the history of capitalism, or weather forecast, but the need of a deep connection is the red thread that joins all human being. Craft is a litmus test of our current society, which highlights shortcomings and can provide solutions. Crafting can be a social glue, an antidote to loneliness, an increasing mental health tool during moments of happiness or despair, death and graving, an opportunity to rediscover old craft practices or experiment with new ones in old and new cultural districts, a means to enhance women’s work or a new way to raise awareness on major current issues such as climate change, depression and loneliness epidemic. The social craftsman resumes the role he had in the Middle Ages. He is an active part of the community around him, a point of reference able to shape it. The scholar must know how to enter the community and understand the balances that regulate relations, and the emotions that pass through them.
- Author: Andrea Beye