Page 181 - Constructing Craft

In the 1980s the Town and Country Planning Act was regularly being challenged by
both craftspeople and other rural dwellers. Craftspeople, for the most part, were

increasingly seen by rural communities as responsible members of the town or
district where they had decided to set up their studios and they were supported in

their fight to change the rules. However, in the 1970s, another group of people
moved into rural areas, and although some appeared to be making craft, their

appearance and the way they lived suggested that craft was not the main reason for

their appearance in rural districts. We will meet some of the people and groups who
were associated with craft in this way and attempt to determine if they radically

challenged the studio craft movement or whether they merely represented changes

that were taking place in the wider community. We will also meet craftspeople who
were linked to these groups – often reluctantly – and discover how an image of

craftspeople emerged that labelled and plagued the movement for many years to
come.

Constructing Craft