Posted by sallysunshine on 2005-04-02 17:55:03
Post Subject:
I don't know much about this, but my mom is involved in that world (in the U.S.), and I've picked up a bit.
In the U.S., there seems to be a pretty big divide between the participatory craft movement and the art craft movement. (Those are my terms: I don't know what the formal terms for them are.) This division isn't absolute: often master craftspeople will do things like give workshops for ordinary folks who like to quilt or knit. But a lot of contemporary craft is conceived of as art. It's meant to be displayed and collected, and some of it isn't even functional. Many of the people who make that kind of craft have formal artistic training, although plenty don't.
It looks to me like the Crafts Council is more on the art side of things than the commercial, participatory side. And in that case, it's probably not a bad idea to read up a bit on the history and theory of the craft movement. (There are big questions about what exactly defines craft anyway. I can drive my mom a bit nuts pushing her on this.) One book that looks useful is The Culture of Craft, edited by Peter Dormer, which is published by Manchester University Press.
I'll try to think of anything else I can come up with. Good luck! It sounds like a great job, and you sound really qualified for it. There are lots of people wiith PR experience and lots of people who like crafts, but not too many people who have both!
