Page 232 - Constructing Craft

Glossy Craft: Craft New Zealand

The last ever issue of Craft New Zealand, was published in 1993 and was

dominated by a section sub-titled ‘A Guide to the Leading Venues for Craft, Visual
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and Applied Art’. The full-colour glossy magazine, owned by Craft Print Limited
following the liquidation of the CCNZ, projected an image of success. The purpose

of the issue, as the editor stated, was the promotion of the galleries that had been
‘mushrooming’ in ‘central city locations’, projecting an image of an industry that was

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financially successful. The format was in keeping with the new image many
craftspeople and craft galleries wished to project, but, behind the facade, financial

concerns were continuing to cause problems as they had when the magazine was

owned by the Craft Council. The issue was largely an advertising feature with most
of it taken up with advertisements thinly disguised as articles. The demise of the

magazine soon after showed that the government funding the CCNZ had relied on
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to pay for the magazine was critical to its continued publication. Craftspeople may
have wished to project an image of success but few were prepared to pay for it.

Craft in New Zealand occupied an inferior position to art both culturally and

economically. Decisions made by others rarely considered the consequences of
those decisions on craftspeople or on the studio craft ‘industry’. Initially craftspeople

benefited from the economic decisions made by governments as they attempted to

ensure New Zealand’s manufacturers prospered by protecting them from overseas
competition and international financial crises. However, by the mid-1970s it was

becoming increasingly clear that the economic and cultural climate was changing
and craftspeople, like many others, would need to adapt to survive. Some

craftspeople moved across the cultural field towards arts and adapted well in the
new corporate environment. However, they discovered that the corporate world was

a harsh environment and ultimately business cared little for craft or craftspeople

unless there was profit to be made. Many craftspeople adapted their production to
meet the new competition from overseas, producing work that mirrored international

trends and hoping their work would be seen as unique and rare – and therefore
more valuable. The more established craftspeople called on their reputation and

continued producing the work they had always made. A very small number had

Constructing Craft