Page 154 - Constructing Craft

in the case of Melanie Cooper. Furthermore, those craft artists who were not

prepared to compromise their ideals or were unable to sell through traditional craft
outlets also sought other means to promote their work. In Australia, from the mid-

1970s, some professional craftspeople began selling their work through the same
dealer galleries that painters and sculptors employed, as a means of achieving

higher prices and to counter the perceptions of amateurism that were associated
with craft shops. In New Zealand, with a much smaller and less sophisticated art

market, this option was not as economically viable, but was nevertheless, a useful

way of demonstrating ones cultural position within the craft world. Merely exhibiting
work in a prestigious gallery or exhibition increased the craft artist’s status ‒ even if

the exhibitor’s main source of economic capital lay elsewhere. Other craftspeople

attempted to benefit from sales in both arenas – selling some work from their
workplace or craft shops while retaining their ‘best’ work, or specially made pieces,

for exhibitions and dealer galleries. The struggle to distinguish between
professionals and amateurs was apparent in the marketplace but could not always

be measured in purely economic terms.

An example of the distinction made between cultural and economic capital was

evident in the way the CCNZ promoted and sold its members’ work. Craft-specific
galleries – a form of dealer gallery specifically catering for crafts – were both

established and promoted by the CCNZ. The strategy was, in part, motivated by the
lack of support for crafts in public galleries and by the desire to rise above the

ordinary craft shop. The CCNZ planned to have a gallery at its head office in
Wellington and encouraged the opening of galleries in the other main centres where

chapters of the CCNZ existed. The Wellington gallery, called the New Zealand

Crafts Centre, was established in May 1980. The target audience initially was
businesses and government departments, but the centre appears to have

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functioned more as a display centre than for the purpose of sales. By 1984 the
gallery was purchasing work for resale rather than selling only on commission. A
form of selection was established based on work being of a very high standard and

the craftsperson having previously had work for sale on commission at the gallery.
The gallery also held regular themed exhibitions consisting of work from selected

craftspeople or work specifically selected for the exhibition.

Constructing Craft