Page 211 - Constructing Craft

the economic and cultural fields. In addition, craftspeople in New Zealand were

located in a zone where commerce and art intersected and the rules kept changing.

Within the field of art, craft was considered less valuable than that of art because of
the nature of the work produced by craftspeople. Craft was often functional, was

made in a repetitive form (sets) and lacked rarity. Furthermore, craft, initially at
least, was not taught within the established institutions of higher learning and

craftspeople lacked the recognised qualifications that institutions (universities)

conferred upon artists. The preference of cultural leaders, moulded by their social
background, was non-functional art that could be hung on a wall or displayed as

sculpture. These same people needed to sustain a myth that their aesthetic gifts

were inbuilt and to deny that these attributes could be learned. Craft was excluded
because it was a skilled activity that had to be learned rather than a gift inherited as

a component of social upbringing.

Many craftspeople were economically successful because they could support
themselves through their craft. Many artists, on the other hand, struggled to make a

living from their art. However, over time, craftspeople found they could not compete

at the centre of the art world which consisted not only of artists but the whole
infrastructure that supported art – the patrons, critics and dealer galleries. Artists

may not have been wealthy but often they had the support of sections of society
that were both culturally and economically powerful. And as the studio craft

movement evolved it became overwhelmed by the power of these groups.

Until the mid-1970s, economic success for many craftspeople ran parallel with

cultural acceptance. But, by the 1980s, the flush of that conjoined success had
faded and other aspects of cultural success – exhibiting in the ‘right’ galleries,

winning prizes or gaining a recognised qualification, became more important. In

addition, economic conditions constantly changed, necessitating the need to adapt
to new rules. Craftspeople found they were continually relocating within the fields of

art and economics. Straddling both fields was one means used by some
craftspeople of ensuring they had a foot in both – making some objects they knew

would sell and others that might not be saleable but would enhance their reputation
as a ‘top’ artists/craftsperson. However, by 1992 very few could claim to have

Constructing Craft