Page 212 - Constructing Craft

established a strong position in either field. Many craftspeople lived a dichotomous

existence – reliant on an increasingly competitive economic market to earn a living
while attempting to break into a cultural market where they were not wholeheartedly

welcomed. This struggle for cultural and economic success sat astride two different
economic periods.

1949 – 1976: A Benign Environment

The dominant features of the New Zealand economy before the mid-1970s were the

high level of protection provided to local industries, the number of rules and
regulations controlling economic activity, the low rates of unemployment, and the

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close ties with Britain. The regulations associated with these policies were
designed to encourage a more diversified spread of exports and to promote import
substitution industries in an effort to protect New Zealand from international

economic shocks. The policy also increased the capacity for manufacturing
businesses to compete in the domestic market and provided an opportunity for

small businesses, such as self-employed craftspeople, to develop niche markets.
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Some economists, such as Dr William Sutch, who held the positions of assistant
secretary and permanent secretary at the Department of Industries and Commerce

between 1958 and 1965, were strong advocates of this form of ‘interventionist
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democratic state’ An economic environment existed that nurtured industries such
as the pottery manufacturer, Crown Lynn, and the growing studio craft movement –

particularly studio pottery. Bob Heatherbell, a member of Craft Potters, and later
Vice-President of the New Zealand Society of Potters, for example, was aware that

the economic environment had helped craftspeople. He believed, a decade after the
economic climate changed, that twenty years of peace and prosperity prior to 1974

and government protection of the ‘industry’ were key factors in the growth of the
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studio craft movement.

1977 – 1992: A Changing Environment

After 1976 there were increased levels of unemployment, an increasing emphasis

on competition, extremes in financial speculation and a widening gap between rich
and poor. The transition that occurred was a ‘response to political economic forces

Constructing Craft