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Tabling our differences
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Observations on the Olympics of Chinese craft
The World Craft Council General Assembly in China provided an opportunity to see aspects of a craft culture that is ancient in a very modern way.
We were taken on an official visit to the Zhongyi lace factory, which is one of the economic jewels of the Toglu province. The showroom featured a performance by a dozen or so lacemakers embroidering designs with great concentration.
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Within the context of the Western craft movement, this contrast between the tranquil scene of traditional handiwork and the mechanical world beyond would normally be something ironic. But the factory owners seemed proud that both could exist together.
In association with the General Assembly there was a huge exhibition of crafts, mostly Chinese. Two in particular seemed worthy of note.
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The pride of the exhibition was the Temple of Heaven Pray Year Palace. It was manufactured by Hong Kong Huangyungguan Bijouterie Co.Ltd, planned by Huang Yunguang and Wang Yongqing, and designed and supervised by Wang Shuwen.
This work transforms a historic architectural monument into a piece of jewellery. The original palace in Beijing was made for the Emperors of Ming and Qing to pray for a successful harvest. The exhibition piece is a quintessential piece of ‘rich craft’. It includes:
- micro-inlay technology
- 5,693 golden gemstones
- 10,000 inner and outer door arches
- 100 kg silver
- 200,000 diamonds
- cadcam technology
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As with the lace, this work is presented in a way that sees no conflict between modern technology and traditional craft values. The work ‘integrates oriental traditional cultural characteristics with modern civilization’.
This year’s Beijing Olympic opening ceremony demonstrated a similar reverence for traditional crafts, particularly calligraphy. The craft and sports Olympics both avoid any reference to the history of modernity, leapfrogging from traditional to contemporary. The craft on display seemed completely divorced from the everyday experience of people living in China. Is this the inverse of the Cultural Revolution, when the traditional was banned in order to focus exclusively on the modern struggle? In today’s China, is the traditional something quite new and fresh? Many questions are left hanging after this brief encounter with craft. As China eventually becomes the world’s leading economic power, we would not be remiss to consider these questions a little further.
Some other observations:
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A legend in the Buddhist stories says that the Buddhism has the boundless power so he can put a huge mountain into a grain of millet, which is magically spectacular.
Zhang Yuanxing has an interesting personal history. He grew up in the village of Shenyang during the Japanese occupation. While the period is regarded as a tragedy in Chinese history, he combines both Japanese and Chinese script in his work as a gesture of harmony between the nations. It’s an interesting example of ‘craft diplomacy’ through ‘small things’, which enable cultural exchange by slipping through the net of international relations.
image Zhang Yuanxing with his granddaughter Xu Jingmei who hopes to continue his craft of tiny sculptural calligraphy. |
image The pendant on the bottom right has a script that advocates filial piety. Mr Yuanxing sells this for half price to encourage its message. |
On a more sensory level, there seemed a particular taste in the Chinese aesthetic for complex rhizomic forms. This monumental sculpture of a monk emerging from the ground won much praise from visitors:
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And in the nearby tourist attraction of Westlake, many of the features reflected an inscription set in a chaos of rock. |
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And from Shanghai airport, the Remy Martin ad for cognac tries to appeal to the same kind of aesthetic.
Perhaps like the rich ginger sauces of Chinese cuisine, these wild baroque forms offer a kind of visual pungency. Yet at the same time, the word of authority emerges from its core in a way that cannot be traced back to any root.
The Chinese showed a great commitment to craft in hosting the World Craft Council General Assembly and creating a virtual Craft Olympics around it. Like the other Olympics, the organisation was flawless. The world of craft owed a great debt to China, and one that it should seek to repay in starting what should be a rich and long-term dialogue.
Jewellery rocks in Argentina
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The Museo de Arte Popular Jose Hernandez resides in an proud colonial building nearby the design hub of Buenos Aires in Recoleta.
As you enter this museum, you are provided with a text panel that includes in point form the defining elements of artesanías (craft). Here they are roughly translated:
- Be produced by manual workmanship with the use of tools of low technological complexity;
- Show an appreciable degree of processing of the raw material based on a specific skill;
- Have a recognizable functionality;
- Display an aesthetic value, which is integrated in some way with the functionality;
- Possess a recognizable cultural value in a particular socio-cultural and historical field
It seems a conservative list. The first criterion excludes craft involving digital technologies. Yet the fourth does acknowledge an aesthetic dimension. Surprisingly, in a Latin American context, nowhere in this list does it refer explicitly to craft as a traditional practice. This may be because of the profound discontinuities of Argentinean history that make ongoing traditions difficult to identify.
This discontinuity is evident in the displays. It seems a random assortment of objects, lacking the kind of narrative applied to modern art found in the nearby Museo de Bellas Artes. The objects vary dramatically in quality and are displayed in a lifeless fashion.
Yet, as often the case in Argentina, the lack of order in the official public realm enables something more spontaneous to emerge on the sideline. The temporary gallery is host to an extraordinary exhibition of contemporary jewellery inspired by Argentinean rock (not the stone, but the music!).
Unlike other ‘foreign’ imitations of Anglo rock’n roll, the Argentinean version is particularly home-grown, sung only in Spanish. It arrived in the 1970s with the emergence of ‘progressive rock’ with poetic lyrics and musical experimentation. During the 1980s, it weathered the dictatorship with the heavy nuevo rock Argentino.
To celebrate this tradition, the collective Huella Digital (Fingerprint including Juan Manuel Malm Green, Ignacio Arichuluaga and Oscar Linkovsky) created works for an exhibition Joyas del Rock (Jewels of Rock) featuring cabinets of jewellery inspired by different rock bands. Along with the jewellery, each display features graphics in the style of the music.
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Here’s a translation of the text panel:
Difficult choices … Can there be a music jewellery?
Memories of childhood, memorable moments, some romance led us to choose it.
We found hearts, hands, eyes, tears, people, facts, things of Argentina.
Love stories and urban landscapes.
Social stories, and spiritual journeys.
Jewels of Rock is a tribute to our country and its culture.
An appreciation done with fire, air, water, earth and music.
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It’s also an interesting contrast to the Bone, Stone, Shell exhibition from New Zealand, which turned to the natural environment for a nationalist story. In Latin America, identity seems more anchored social history and cultural tradition, than an external element such as landscape. Despite this difference, both cases obviously share a privileged role for jewellery in acknowledging the historical value of their respective cultures.
Other relevant links in the Argentinean scene:
- Be My Walking Gallery in which an artist creates jewellery so that her paintings can circulate
- Juana de Arco fashion designer with outlet in Palermo that includes an excess of handmade items remixed from countries such as Paraguay
- Materia Urbana San Telmo design shop with good range of works
- Humawaca brand of accessories with distinctively Argentinean design
The Discovery of the New Mundito
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I presented a workshop on the theme of El Mundo de las Cositas, in relation to the World of Small Things exhibition that is being developed for Craft Victoria next year. We talked about the alternative economy of small things, including the festival of Alasitas in Bolivia. The students invented a wide range of little objects with a special function to play in our lives, including this figure that is used in a complex drinking game.
Cositas are part of a growing interest among Chileans in what they call Abajismo, a fascination for developments like ‘poor craft’ that draw inspiration from the street. There’s a lot, lot more to say about this, which I hope to say at a later date.
As they say in Chile, ‘Chaoito!’
If the Chinchorros could speak…
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But there are questions. Señora Racz was explaining to me about their teaching methods, which often involve the study of a particular pre-Colombian culture from which designs are abstracted for application in new forms. For an Australian, this seems a little strange. We would rarely think of using indigenous designs, and if we did there are strict protocols about asking permission.
The absence of any living representative of these cultures is disturbing for an Australian. But one must always be careful about making judgements. Australia is hardly a model of cultural cohabitation. While Latin America may have been colonised more ruthlessly, there was also greater mixing of races than in Australia.
But an outsider can’t help but notice the shadow of the past and feel the power of the continuing presence of artifacts like Chinchorro mummies, wondering… What would they say about all this?
This would be a very powerful subject for a collaboration between art and craft in Chile.
The low craft in Santiago
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The owner is originally from the ‘provinces’ and remembers her first ever sale from a little garden that she maintained. In honour of this, she has established a huerto (plot garden) on the busy street. She was surprised to see the space respected and everything kept in its place. Once the plants grow, her intention is to place a notice inviting neighbours to take from mature plants.
Jo! seems another example of the kind of abajismo (pride in lowness) that is so dynamic in Chilean culture today. Another example are the cheap handmade books published by Anamita Cartonera in honour of people who live on the streets.
Craft contamination
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| The workshop series at MAVI finished with a day-long session looking at the various elements in putting together a craft exhibition. I was quite surprised by the experimental approach that was taken by participants. We had three quite basic tables to work with. One group started piling other furniture on top. | 
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Another used one of the group herself as the plinth on which to display objects. And the last group infiltrated the stairs with stolen objects accessible via the adjacent lift.
Craft in Chile has the potential not only to present objects of great interest but also to animate them with stories and a little local attitude.
I learned a great deal from the participants. I’m quite amazed at the breadth of projects they are involved in. It was quite a privilege to work with them and I hope there can something that comes of this. Certainly for the World of Small Things exhibition and discussions around the Code of Practice for Craft-Design Collaborations.
Conversation on the sidelines continued about the strangeness of bringing something artisanal into the gallery. It was obvious that the works were strangers to this environment. The challenge ahead is to see what happens when someone starts knocking on the door of the exhibition committee. Perhaps someone might start a gallery themselves..
The audacity of craft
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It was a relief to see with the second day of the workshop another good crowd. There does seem to be an interest here in doing something more with craft. I wonder sometimes whether coming from a foreign culture like Australia I am in danger of contaminating a more traditional craft scene such as in Chile. I come with a more academic approach to the idea of craft which can potentially alienate the artisans themselves.
But sometimes it’s good to stir things up. Paula Magazine recently rang a short piece about Justo Pastor Mellado, an important Chilean curator – gatekeeper – of visual arts. He makes all the right noises – against consumerism, fashion, conservatism, etc. But there’s a sense of righteousness behind this as well. As though, ‘What can you expect from the world?’ Maybe this sentiment comes more from the journalist that the curator. But it leads to a kind of defeatism, as though the forces of evil will always find their way, no matter how straight the path. It’s a hard, critical, view of life, but it also justifies a kind of disengagement too. Why bother?
Perhaps that is a bigger challenge than getting craft into art galleries. The task is to find an door that is open, not just for the language of materials spoken by lowly artisans, for anything. From this distance, Barack Obama’s ‘audacity of hope’ seems a slick marketing phrase, following the yellow brick road of the American dream that has lead the world to the present abyss. But, on the other hand, maybe a little bit of hope isn’t such a bad thing. Like salt, in small proportions it enhances the flavour of things. But too much of it becomes poisonous.
Working with organisations like Raiz Diseño and ONA, I can see that there’s salt on the table. Today I also learned about the marvelous Mapuche craft promoted by the Chilean version of World Vision (funded by Australia). Chile is certainly a country filled with possibility.
Anyhow, tomorrow is the workshop when we get so see how craft as a ‘yoga for the mind’ is translated into authentic Chileno. Perhaps we can pick the lock.
The Andes is revealed
I am in Santiago for a little while presenting a series of lectures and workshops on the theme of ‘craft as art’. The presentation is organised by Raiz Diseno and supported by ONA in partnership with MAVI.
The series basically involves outlining the practice of ‘contemporary craft’ as practiced in countries like Australia, and seeing how it might apply to Chile. There are many obstacles in this direction. ‘Artesanías’ is an inexact translation of ‘craft’. While craft is a largely middle class activity in Australia, in Chile artisans have quite a low status, despite their importance for national identity. But in Chile at this point in time, there seems to be so many people are wanting to open up the space between the gallery and the shop. It seems worth a try.
There was a great audience for the first lecture last night. The question of the lecture was the relationship between art, design and craft. It seemed useful to have a reasonable simple model of art to begin with, so I based the argument around a ‘yoga for the mind’.
The progress was steady and the mixture of Spanish-English-Spanglish gave us time to digest some of the strange practices on the other side of the Pacific. After two hours, the audience was still engaged and took the opportunity for some quite spirited discussion. As often happens, much of the passion evoked was about the barriers separating craft off from the centres of power. It helped greatly having this event in a visual art gallery, as it provided a good sign that opportunities exist, if we know how to ask for them.
It’s a reasonably clear day in Santiago. The smog is a thin veil, behind which you can just make out the Andes. And from MAVI, we can just glimpse the kind of creative expressions that craft might be able to achieve in a gallery.
Sunshine makes a desert – a craft response to the economic crisis
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There is reason to think that the same could be said for the global economy. Back in 2005, I remember reading an article in Spiked by Phil Mullan, who argued that the world economies were too well managed. He claimed that by carefully avoiding peaks of inflation and troughs of recession, the market was not experiencing the regular pruning necessary to ensure efficient systems. Joseph Schumpeter described this as a ‘creative destruction’ required for innovation. While it may be a lack of regulation that triggered the crisis through sub-prime mortgages, this crisis should still provide a space for something new to evolve?
Where will craft stand?
Craft seems entirely ephemeral to the global economy. But the reverse is obviously not true. Everyone can feel pessimistic about the short-term future (leave global warming to the long term, for the time being). There will be less discretionary capital, particularly for luxury goods. The extra price of quality handmade goods will seem less affordable now that the value of investments is no longer on an endless ascent. Most craft artists are dependent on part-time work to support the studio practice. There will be less employment overall to support this kind of lifestyle.
Is there an up side? It’s possible to speculate that this crash will set up conditions for increased interest in the handmade. The economy seems to have become unhinged in the world of ‘complex derivatives’ in which money follows an increasingly abstract trail of goods involving futures and debt transfers. This reflects the increasing abstraction of the contemporary lifestyle, where more and more our activities are mediated by technologies, such as the recent wii fitness consoles. The crash may be read as a wake up call.
One can imagine a ‘back to basics’ movement involving a return to the things at hand. That would build on the momentum already developed by the slow movement and various guerilla craft actions. Practices such as ‘poor craft’ are obviously well placed for a time when we all have to make the most of necessity.
From this end of time, the future for craft seems mixed. There could be a decline in top end craft, but at the same time a revival in making as an activity.
But then again, something quite new may unfold. We may experience a ‘shock of the old’ as the rapid process of technological redundancies are mined by creative anthropologists. Crowds may gather for collective craft spectacles as castles are woven from old cassette tapes. The previous decades of dizzying expansion may seem like a strange dream.
Perhaps an oasis will emerge in the desert. Let’s hope it’s not a mirage.