Articles - 21 July 2007

Indigenous craft·design practice in Australia, a Craft Australia background

In this issue of 716 craft·design online news, Craft Australia focuses on Australian Indigenous contemporary craft·design practice. As the advocates for the contemporary craft sector, Craft Australia has a long tradition of supporting and promoting contemporary Indigenous craft practice nationally and internationally. Many significant articles about the early Indigenous craft movement can be read in issues of Craft Australia Magazine dating back as early as 1970. Programs in this field were formalised by a report commissioned by Craft Australia and prepared by Doreen Mellor in 1995 . The report included national research on the position of Australian Indigenous contemporary craft·design practice with recommendations for Craft Australia's future programs.

Outcomes implemented as a result of this report included greater inclusion of contemporary Indigenous craft in international exhibitions undertaken by Craft Australia at the time. These included the exhibition, Origins and New Perspectives, Contemporary Australian Textiles curated by Glenda King and presented in 2000 at the Lodz Textile Triennial in Poland. Previous to this Craft Australia presented craft work by Ernabella, Maruku and Yuendumu artists at major international craft fairs in the USA such as Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) in Chicago. These international promotional programs were key exposure points for Indigenous contemporary craft·design practice in the international market, a market that has grown consistently in the ensuing years.

These initial steps to promote and make more visible the Australian Indigenous contemporary craft·design sector has continued as a priority area for Craft Australia and recently the organisation managed a major conference titled Selling Yarns: Australian Indigenous Textiles and good business in the 21st century. The conference was held in 2006 in conjunction with the NATSIAA, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Awards, in Darwin and focused specifically on current trends and new developments towards greater cultural and economic sustainability in the Indigenous contemporary craft sector.

The conference was very successful in its focus and outcomes and it attracted many Indigenous artists as participants and presenters. More details about the conference can be found on the Selling Yarns website. A selection of papers presented at the conference are available on the Craft Australia online Research Centre, with more papers being added.

A feature of the Selling Yarns conference was the dynamic position of practice in this field. It was observed, however, that information about the vitality of the sector was not reaching the broader general public's attention. The implications of this impediment have a marked impact on the economic sustainability of craft practice and the cultural continuity of some of these practices. Many of us will be familiar with the Musee de Quai Branly which opened in Paris last year and features outstanding Australian Indigenous visual art works. However fewer of us would be aware of the breadth and vibrancy of contemporary indigenous craft and design practice.

This special issue of 716 craft·design online news goes some way to redress this point. It includes articles about exhibitions and programs developed by key agencies such as the network of Australian Craft and Design Centres, ACDC, Indigenous art centres, promotional and public art agencies, which are developing programs to increase the visibility of Australian Indigenous artists. So I urge you to take the time to read the many stories on offer.

Further to our feature articles in this issue, I draw your attention to stories we have covered in the past and will be featuring in upcoming issues of 716 as a broader context for the sector's activities. The South Project managed by Craft Victoria in Melbourne is a multiyear program of exhibitions, seminars and cultural exchanges involving artists from the southern hemisphere. It examines the colonial and indigenous histories relative to the counties of the South through contemporary cultural practices featuring craft as the lingua franca of these diverse continents. Culminating in a feature event in Melbourne in 2009, South is a cultural and social dialogue. An interview with Kevin Murray, the Director of Craft Victoria, at the beginning of the South program gives an overview of the program's scope and aspirations. Interview with Kevin Murray.

From this big picture view of social cohesion through cultural practice, the following programs address issues such as cultural and economic sustainability. Look out for Craft ACT's upcoming exhibition in November titled Mamana Mamanta which is the outcome of two years of collaboration between Canberra glass artists Luna Ryan and Tiwi artist Jock Puautijimi. The introduction of glass casting processes to the Tiwi through this collaboration between the 2 artists will have ongoing benefits for the all those that have been involved in this exchange.

The JamFactory in Adelaide has many years background of skills exchange through their collaboration with artists at Ernabella to introduce ceramic processes. The value of this relationship has had ongoing benefits that have led to new creative programs at the art centre and has increased the capacity of the Ernabella artists to engage with the commercial art sector nationally and internationally. An exhibition of Ernabella ceramics will be presented at the SOFA fair in Chicago later this year.

Critical issues for the sustainability of the Indigenous visual art and craft sector remain the need to establish a resale royalty system and the need to establish an authentication process for works to avoid unscrupulous dealings. Such points were identified at the Selling Yarns conference and featured as central items of discussion in the recent Senate Committee inquiry into Indigenous Visual Art and Craft. The outcomes of the inquiry were published in June this year. Indigenous Art, Securing the Future makes many recommendations and ultimately states that the majority of dealers and cultural workers in this field are passionate about the ongoing success and growth of this sector.

This is certainly the position of the network of ACDC who will be sending a group of craft curators and publicists to the NATSIAA in Darwin this August. The craft curators gathering to coincide with the festival is supported by Object and is an important strategy to establish national programs to enhance the visibility of Australian Indigenous contemporary craft·design practice.

There have been many activities and events supported by key organisations in the cultural sector that are not possible to mention in this brief overview. As advocates for the craft design industry, Craft Australia plans to produce a regular feature issue on Indigenous contemporary craft design to give greater profundity to the public's perception of the exciting work in this field of cultural endeavour.

Catrina Vignando
General Manager
July, 2007

Also see: 716 craft·design Issue #23 August 2007
Special issue on Indigenous craft and design