Page 13 - Constructing Craft

recognition in a world they found alien and élitist was the opposite of everything

they believed craft stood for. Some moved from one side of the art/craft divide
to the other while others attempted to straddle the divide. A small number voiced

their concerns – usually in craft magazines – about the divisions. But whether
craft could be defined as art remained largely unresolved or was ignored

completely.

The ability to earn a living through craft raised questions about the amateur or

professional status of craftspeople. To claim that income could define a
craftsperson as a professional was disputed by those whose craft demanded

long periods of time to produce. For instance, spinners and weavers struggled to

earn enough money because the objects they produced required large amounts
of time. These craftspeople needed to define professionalism in other ways,

such as the quality of the work produced. Although craftspeople initially defined
themselves by their ability to earn a living from craft or by the quality of their

work they also felt a need to have their professionalism endorsed in some formal
way. Education, which in the 1940s and 1950s had helped pave the way for the

movement, later became the conduit through which some craftspeople wished to

have their status endorsed or enhanced. By the 1980s craftspeople were
redefining what craft was and who could be called a professional craftsperson by

lobbying for the establishment of formal craft qualifications. Craftspeople
debated these issues vigorously and planned for the future by establishing

formally recognised schools of craft throughout New Zealand. A new approach
to craft arose from this form of training. Some craftspeople supported this more

formal way of training but others regretted the passing of the old ways of passing

skills from master to apprentice.

Craftspeople often appeared to challenge the way people were expected to live

their lives in the conservative society that was New Zealand after the Second
World War. Craft was seen as a bulwark against the materialism and pressures

of the modern world and craftspeople, often because they were self-employed or
worked in remote parts of the country, felt that they could remove themselves

from the crass world of commercialism and yet still make a living. For many
craftspeople their craft provided them with an opportunity to lead a more fulfilling

Constructing Craft