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Articles - 24 April 2007

Craft Australia

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Craft Australia was held on 13 April, 2007. Robyn Daw, textile artist, arts consultant and cultural worker extraordinaire was elected to the position of President of Craft Australia. Kay Lawrence continues in an ex officio capacity as the Immediate Past President of the organisation. Appointed to the Board was Chetana Andary, Executive Director of Craft Queensland, as the new Australian Craft and Design Centre (ACDC) representative replacing Steven Pozel, Director of Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design. Also joining the Board is Antonia Syme, recent Director of Artbank and now operating a private arts consultancy. Craft Australia thanks all the outgoing members of the Board and welcomes the two new Directors. Craft Australia expresses a public thanks to Kay Lawrence as the outgoing President for all her guidance and steerage of the organisation over the past three years.
»  Craft Australia board

Living Treasures: Masters of Australian craft

In this second Living Treasures series, Object and Craft Australia have further enhanced the program by celebrating the short listed finalists in the selection process as Masters of Australian craft. This accolade is a new development that acknowledges the wealth and dynamism of the Australian studio craft movement of the past thirty years. Ten finalists were short listed by the judges. These Masters of Australian craft are Robert Baines (Vic), Pippin Drysdale (WA), Beth Hatton (NSW), Brian Hirst (NSW), Jeff Mincham (SA), Milton Moon (SA), Kevin Perkins (Tas), Catherine Truman (SA), Margaret West (NSW), Liz Williamson (NSW).

Of these Masters, three were selected as Living Treasures they are Liz Williamson (2008), Kevin Perkins (2009) and Robert Baines (2010).

Their work will be promoted through the development of a monograph and an extensive touring exhibition of new works. Living Treasures: Masters of Australian craft celebrates the outstanding achievements of Australian senior craft artists. This program is developed by Object in collaboration with Craft Australia. Visit the Craft Australia website for information on the Masters of Australian Craft program.
»  Media release Object   Image of pdf icon

Smart Works: design and the hand made

The opening of the Smart Works exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum at the end of March marked the beginning of an exciting 3 day symposium that concluded on Sunday 1 April. The exhibition continues till August 2007 and includes the work of 40 Australian and New Zealand makers. Grace Cochrane, the curator of the Smart Works exhibition and convener of the symposium, has also been responsible for a major publication to accompany the show. The book includes an introductory essay by Grace Cochrane that gives a global context for the focus of this exhibition. This is further highlighted by the additional essays and the information about each of the participating artists.
»  Smartworks publication

The General Manager of Craft Australia presented one of the key note papers at the three day symposium. Illustrating current Australian trends of craft and design links with industry, this growing area of activity in Australia gave a dynamic sense of current Australian practice.
»  Craft·design and the creative industries by Catrina Vignando

Other key note papers gave an international context for current craft and design activities focusing specifically on China, Sweden, New Zealand and Italy. These perspectives were set against a global backdrop of current manufacturing trends and related issues presented by Peter Day, global business adviser and futurist on manufacturing trends in the world.
»  Peter Day ABC broadcast

These international positions were then highlighted by practical responses from the artists, exhibitors in the Smart Works show, who gave papers about their work, ranging from the development of their practice, links made with the manufacturing sector, views on outsourced and offshore production and global marketing. This heady mix of global local, gave a practical focus on current trends in Australian and New Zealand craft and design practice.
»  Smartworks brochure   Image of pdf icon

ArtsPeak and Craft Australia

Craft Australia is a member of ArtsPeak, a confederation of national arts service organisations. Formed in 1997, ArtsPeak collectively responds to issues of broad concern to the arts such as arts education and public arts/cultural policy. Established to help develop the arts sector, ArtsPeak meets regularly to discuss current issues and establish lobbying strategies.

In April, the General Manager of Craft Australia attended the first ArtsPeak meeting for the year held at the Australia Council for the Arts and coordinated through the Strategy Unit of Council. The agenda included meeting Kathy Keele, the new CEO of the Australia Council and discussion regarding a mutual lobbying strategy between the Australia Council and ArtsPeak. This is an important strategy in the lead up to the federal election, planned for later this year. Also on the agenda was the establishment of an ArtsPeak Action Agenda for the rest of the year including research priorities and policy coordination between the relevant federal agencies. Successful lobbying outcomes achieved through a unified arts sector voice, in the form of ArtsPeak, include input to the US Free Trade Agreement, the GST and the Visual Arts Craft Strategy.

Craft Australia
April, 2007