Lost Economy

Quick post to let you know there is a really intersting article on the BBC website re the crafts...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8586172.stm

many thanks to Prof Nigel Johnson for bringing this to our attention

Innovation focus

Organisation of the "Prototype-craft in the future tense" symposium is off to a fantastic start!

Taking place on June 10th and 11th of this year, the event has an amazing line up of speakers including Business Innovator Michael Schrage, space architect Constance Adams, Turner Prize Winner Simon Starling, and the University of Dundee's own Interactive Jeweller Hazel White, to name but a few.

Participants will be joined by industry experts including Design Innovator supremo Colin Burns,  Dee Cooper  who is Director of Product and Service at Virgin Atlantic and, Chris Van der Kuyl, Scottish Entrepreneur and CE of Bright Solid.

This is an incredible and unique opportunity to see and hear about the astonishing diversity of prototyping, what it has acheived and will be acheiving in terms of research, collaboration and knowledge exchange across a vast array of disciplines.

Come and learn, come and share.
See http://www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad/prototyping/.
Early Bird registration fee, ONLY £195 - BOOK NOW!!

Hurry only a few days remaining to catch this offer

Future Craft invite

The 'Future Craft' research exposition runs from 26th March - 24th April and showcases work from over 40 craft practitioners including new works by Georgina Follett, Geoffrey Mann, Drummond Masterton, Louise Valentine, Frances Stevenson, Hazel White and Tim Parry-Williams.

The exposition is a culmination five years of research conducted by the 'Past, Present and Future Craft' research team at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee, U.K. Accompanying the expo is a catalogue detailing the research journey, giving insight into each of the five team members research.

Future Craft challenges current perceptions of craft and is being held, in the Matthew Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee, U.K.

V&A Quilts 1700-2010 :: Private View

Walking into the Private View of ‘Quilts 1700-2010’ was a bit of a fantastic, blurry and surreal experience – the main reception of the V&A unfamiliar with its lights dimmed low, buzzing in anticipation; clusters of the most fabulously be-decked people chattering excitedly over a soundtrack of dreamy fifties tunes; waiters and waitresses milling through the ever moving stream of guests offering champagne and nibbles atop Perspex trays whose middle was filled with bobbins, threads, snippets of patchwork and images of featured quilts.

Curator Sue Pritchard admitted it took 6 years for this exhibition to be where it is at today therefore the celebration for them was long awaiting.


Contemporary artist Tracey Emin gave an impelling opening speech whose own piece was an ode to her childhood abuser in the guise of a ‘Princess Bed’.  Emin stressed the importance of quilting not only as craft but as an emotional outlet, a personal mode for expression- a theme which ran throughout the whole exhibition exploring each individual piece’s own hidden history and untold story.

Being able to see the exhibition for the first time was such an amazing moment. The exhibition flowed through a series of ‘rooms’ and walls affording each quilt an appropriate ‘home’ in its own right – some were hung loosely from the wall tempting the viewer to pull them down and explore them further, some pinned flat like Jo Budd’s ‘Male/Winter, Female/Summer’, others displayed in situ on a bed, in a crib on a working frame, and other quilts came in digital form as films or slides. The presentation of contemporary quilts alongside older traditional ones was beautifully done, emphasising the timelessness of quilting and its associated themes. The placement brought new and diverse insights to the subjects explored and it encouraged thought and questioning from the viewers. Turning the corner into the ‘Making a Living’ section to find Kirsty Fenton’s quilt ‘Threaded Wrists’ was a rather bizarre and wonderful moment. It encapsulated everything she had set out to do in terms of subject and aesthetic. Certainly a piece worthy of sitting aside that of artists we have studied and admired during our time in the textiles department at Duncan of Jordanstone College.

All in all, the Private View was a wonderful experience – an aptly surreal and exciting event!

By Kirsty Fenton and Sara Nevay

Craft Festival Scotland Launch

On Thursday 25th March, the first national festival of craft in the UK – Craft Festival Scotland – is launched in Dundee.  With over 50 inspiring events happening across the country it celebrates the diversity and creativity of craft, tempting everyone to discover and enjoy craft.

The journey towards this event started in January 2009 when we invited people working in craft across Scotland to gather to discuss a national festival.  The PPFCP research project already had a collection of exhibitions and an international symposium with the V&A happening in Dundee in 2010, creating an opportunity to work together and initiate a national celebration of craft.

Twenty people came to the meeting representing Aberdeen, Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders, the Highlands, Ayrshire, Fife, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the group supported developing a national festival of events with Dundee at the core of it. 

After agreeing the festival would happen in May and June 2010 we then spread the word to private and public galleries in Scotland, open studio events, the Scottish Degree Shows, and invited them all to become part of the festival. 

At the same time, we successfully approached the Scottish Arts Council for funding for a national marketing campaign, and worked with partners in Dundee. The Courier joined as media sponsors, the McManus developed a month long programme of workshops and craft focused events and DCA will hold their first ever craft exhibition with Chicks on Speed, who will working at Duncan of Jordanstone for a month before their event.  On a national level we liaised with the V&A, Crafts Council and craftscotland.

We now find ourselves excitedly approaching the event we have been creating for over fourteen months.  We have been amazed and delighted at the way people have wanted to become involved and support the vision. Flamboyant millinery in the Scottish Borders, interactive objects on Shetland, the Innovative Craft maker/curator project in Edinburgh, a month of events in the Highlands with all the Scottish art colleges participating through their annual Degree Shows and open studios events in North Fife and Dumfries & Galloway.

It is a true reflection of the energy, passion and quality of craft in Scotland, and we hope everyone will enjoy the festival in May and June, our first Craft Festival Scotland.

Craft Festival Scotland update

Save the date!! On 25th March, 2010 we are launching Craft Festival Scotland, a new national initiative emerging from five years of research at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD). Matthew Gallery, DJCAD, Dundee, Scotland.

To find out what we're up to, visit our website  - www.dundee.ac.uk/craftfest

become a follower/fan via twitter and facebook pages:

http://www.facebook.com/CraftFestivalScotland

http://twitter.com/CraftFestScot

Groovy Chicks

This was too good not to share! many thanks to MSc Craft and Creative Business student Charonne Ruth for bringing this to our attention.

Enjoy :)