Last Monday night the members of Craft Victoria (including myself) voted to adopt a new constitution. The major changes to the Board composition include:

• a minimum of two craft industry professionals (previously it was five professional members)
• members no longer nominate board members from their ranks
• President does not need to be a craftsperson

It’s a significant change for the organisation and it did not pass without heated debate. Some felt it was a diminution of member’s power which could lead to a more corporate direction for the organisation (a focus on avoiding risk rather than advancing the field). The Board presented the change as a responsibility of governance in the face of increasing legal responsibilities.

In the end, it is hoped that the Board will be able to use this power to help the organisation keep on track. Craft Victoria has a great reputation for not only putting new ideas into the cultural mix, but also maintaining a long-term commitment to the enduring value of craft. While credit for this is partly due to people at the top, it is very much due to those dedicated members whose belief and commitment have inspired future possibilities.

While we wait with interest to see what how Board engages with future challenges, members should stay actively involved in the organisation. The possibility was noted that there might be an annual forum where the direction of Craft Victoria could be discussed with members. Let’s ensure that something like this happens.

Karl Fritsch’s exhibition Metrosideros Robusta references north island iron-wood from New Zealand which takes over its host plant. His uncanny and theatrical installation is securely enclosed by brute chicken wire. North meets south. I came, I saw, and I was conquered.

At the South Project gathering in Johannesburg last year, I organised a workshop on ways of exhibiting craft. The rationale emerged on a visit to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and seeing the division between the shop and the gallery – black rural woman’s craft in the shop and white university educated video in the gallery. For a nation founded on the victory over Apartheid, this seems an anachronistic situation. Of course, it did parallel the situation in countries like Australia, where state collecting institutions have demoted crafts, though at least in Australia there seemed to be the theoretical possibility of exhibition craft in art galleries.

So, at risk of being a ‘contemporary craft’ missionary, it seemed worthwhile exploring the possible pathway between shop and gallery in South Africa. It wasn’t just a theoretical question. Besides extra display space, an object also acquired value in moving from the shelf to the plinth. This value then has the potential to raise the prices of related objects.

The workshop attracted great interest for a wide range of participants. There were craftspersons from townships along with visual artists, curators and government trainers. One issue raised early on was the lack of venues for exhibiting craft. This led to a spirited discussion about the need for self-sufficient solutions, and the possibility of starting a gallery oneself in a garage space.

As a one-off exercise, this seemed a positive beginning. To be effective, however, requires a more concerted effort. It would be good to pilot an exhibition and follow through the issues as they arise.

But there are questions in this exercise. The gallery system usually involved elevating one individual above the others. An example in Australia is the late batik artist Emily Kngwarreye, whose reputation (and prices) approaches Picasso.  As such, it is a threat to more communal social structures. In Aboriginal communities, the prices of paintings are usually shared widely, though crafts such as basket-making continue to be a more collective form of production.

As one of many in Australia with experience in navigating the entrance to galleries, it challenges us to consider what to do this with special knowledge. Should we uplift these communities by integrating them more closely into mainstream economy, enabling members to rise the ladder of success? Or should we ‘protect’ traditional communities by leaving their craft culture ‘undeveloped’?

Of course, once you ask these questions, it is obvious that the answer does not come from ourselves, but from the craft communities. Any workshop in this guise must include a ‘back door’ by while participants can decided that this isn’t the path to be taken. This should include a critical discussion about the problems associated with the visual art system.

This will not be the final answer. It is just as likely to lead to more questions. But as the Zapatistas say, ‘walking we ask questions.’

ruddsorry

On a day of strong emotions, a new Australian government began the serious business of making its apology for the Stolen generation. Of interest was the importance of ‘craft’ as a sign of the seriousness of the business at hand.

Here are some comments from today’s The Age:

The phrasing of today’s apology has been well crafted. It is to the point and blunt in its message, saying the word "sorry" three times.
Rudd’s dramatic first step moves Australia forward

Just after 9am the Prime Minister began reading the words he’d crafted to deliver his message of regret and sorrow and his promise for the future on behalf of the Australian community.
Time for nation to turn new page

In a 361-word statement crafted with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and advisers, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will use the word "sorry" three times — acknowledging its power in indigenous culture.

‘Sorry. We’ll never let it happen again’

In concluding his speech to parliament, Kevin Rudd invited the leader of the opposition Brenan Nelson to join him in ‘crafting’ new policies for addressing inequality between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

This ‘sorry business’ would have been alternatively ‘managed’, ‘cobbled together’ or ‘constructed’. But its crafting seems an important sign of the commitment to have its message endure through time.