Teachers' notes

The Interact forum site is an excellent teaching aid for students developing a profession in the crafts. It presents relevant issues that can be discussed in class and online. Interact can also be used by teachers and students as a research resource containing a diverse range of information on topical issues for the contemporary craft sector.

Below is an overview of the articles that appear on the site and suggested discussion points. To read and print out articles and discussions visit Discussion papers

Interact articles and discussion points

Choose one or more articles to discuss as a class. Read the article then use the following questions to stimulate discussion in class and then include your responses on the Interact site.

Translating concepts into Applied Ideas   by Jane Andrew
Jane Andrew is the former Executive Director of Craftsouth Centre for Contemporary Craft and Design, a not-for-profit Industry Association of over 300 designer/makers and artists in South Australia. For Interact her article 'Translating concepts into Applied Ideas' examines the capacity for creative industries to function in a new economy and discusses how Craftsouth's Applied Ideas project addresses these possibilities.

Untitled   by Suzie Attiwill
Suzie Attiwill is a senior lecturer in Interior Design at the School of Architecture and Design RMIT and maintains an independent practice designing exhibitions, curatorial work, writing and working on a range of interdisciplinary projects in Australia and overseas. Her Interact article 'Untitled' looks at the role of language in defining practice, the practice of defining, the connections made by names and the power structures that underpin these relationships.

Handmade at the heart of things   by Grace Cochrane
Grace Cochrane is senior curator of Australian Decorative Arts and Design at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. In 'Handmade at the heart of things' she discusses the place of contemporary craft practice in a global economy and in relation to new technologies. She gives an overview of the shape of crafts practice in Australia in the new century. This article has been reproduced with permission from Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design and appears in Object Magazine Issue 44 June 2004.

Zero to one thousand to nothing   by Robert Cook
Robert Cook is associate curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, adjunct research fellow at the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage at Curtin University and a board member of FORM: Contemporary Craft and Design Inc. For Interact he throws down the gauntlet in 'Zero to one thousand to nothing' and asks what is the function of craft writing, who reads it and why do it?

The argument against design   by Peter Hughes
Peter Hughes has been curator of Decorative Arts at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery since 1999. His Interact article 'The argument against design' discusses the fate of The Practices Formerly Known as the Crafts, discussing the relationship between craft and design and the problems associated with changing names.

A match made in heaven   by Susan Ostling
Susan Ostling is a senior lecturer in Fine Art at Queensland College of Art Griffith University and a ceramicist who has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. More recently her practice has shifted to curating exhibitions. In 'A match made in heaven' Susan Ostling ponders the proposal that we are natural born cyborgs and explores the potential for digital possibilities in making objects.

What's in a name   by Gilbert Riedelbauch
Gilbert Riedelbauch is a practising artist exhibiting nationally and internationally. Since 1994 he has been senior lecturer in Computer Aided Design and 3-Dimensional Computer Applications at the Australian National University, School of Art. His article 'What's in a name?' discusses the technological options for students embarking on tertiary training in contemporary craft, the significance of names and naming in situating the practice of making objects. This article is also published in Object Magazine Issue 44 June 2004 in the Interact feature.

Ceci n’est pas un ‘basket’   by Margie West
Margie West is Curator of Aboriginal Art and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin and has thirty years experience in museum curation and Indigenous cultural issues. Since working for MAGNT she has been involved in a range of programs including heritage maintenance and museum development for Aboriginal communities. Her article ‘Ceci n’est pas un 'basket'' discusses the way useful fibre items constructed by indigenous inhabitants of Arnhem Land have become objects of desire circulating in the Western cultural context of contemporary craft and the 'way indigenous language is slowly being translated to a wider audience and with it, and assertion of cultural value that certain outside narratives have obscured for decades.’

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