Page 14 - Constructing Craft

life. Others in their society also believed craftspeople could be looked to for

examples of how society might be improved. Craftspeople appeared to be both
progressive and regressive in their approach to the issues that concerned them.

Many craftspeople wished to live more simple lives – often in the countryside. In
addition, they would often eschew sophisticated technology if it appeared to

compromise the crafts ideals they held. To many New Zealanders this seemed a
new and radical way of living.

Craftspeople also had an ambivalent relationship with modern industrial
methods and the business world. In 1961, John Wood, writing in the catalogue

for the New Zealand Potters 5th Exhibition in Christchurch, attempted to explain

the relationship between his craft and industry: ‘The Industrial Revolution, … put
an end to many forms of individual skill and craftsmanship which had flourished

and matured during thousands of years, producing most of the outstandingly
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beautiful objects of the world.’ Wood recognised that the disappearance of
craftspeople had taken place predominantly ‘in the more highly developed
countries of the world’ and that the large industrial potteries produced

‘technically brilliant’ work. However, he stated that ‘no-one with any real

knowledge of pottery … can fail to feel in the factory products the dead hand of
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the machine, or to regret the price that has been paid.’ However, this
relationship was not always acrimonious and some craftspeople made
accommodations with industry that were mutually beneficial.

On the enrolment form for a Harakeke School taken by Cath Brown in

Wellington in August 1968 a Māori phase proclaimed: ‘Haere mai, tatou katoa

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— kia ako tahi, kia mahi tahi’ (Come, let us learn together, work together). It
was a call to those interested in the craft, and perhaps to all craftspeople, to

collaborate rather than compete. Women and Māori often differed to Pākehā

(non- Māori) men in the way they approached craft. Their emphasis on
cooperation and sharing, and the role of women in particular in the

administration of craft, had a profound effect on how the movement developed
and was defined. However, as the movement grew and evolved both women

and Māori found their beliefs were challenged by the repositioning of craft in
New Zealand.

Constructing Craft