Symposium

Walter Crane, Imperial Federation, map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886, Published as a supplement to The Graphic, July 24, 1886. Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at Boston Public Library. Link.

Global Legacies of Arts and Crafts
December 14–15, 2023
Bard Graduate Center, New York City

for more information, and to register, please click here


This conference is generously supported by a SSHRC Connections Grant, the Bard Graduate Center, and the Queen’s University Faculty of Arts and Science.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline: September 1, 2023

Inspired by the British designer, craftsman, poet, and socialist William Morris (1834–1898), the Arts and Crafts Movement was a varied and ambitious set of values and practices reacting against mid-nineteenth-century industrialization, capitalism, and imperialism. It asserted the social value of making, challenged the hierarchy of fine and decorative arts, defended the livelihoods of artisans, and promoted the preservation of skilled knowledge. But the ambition, pugnacity, and passion of the Arts and Crafts was not limited to a single place or time. Although Arts and Crafts is often regarded as quintessentially British, its setting within the context of empire cannot be ignored, nor can its vexed relation to the very systems of globalizing power that were its central concerns. Moreover, Morris had a surprising influence across the world, including on anti-colonial and nationalist movements who were variously inspired by his ideas about the validation of the craftsman and hand work, the value of tradition and vernaculars, his call for art for all people, and critiques of contemporary Western industrialism and imperialism. At the same time, craft revival projects were also used by colonial officials to uphold hierarchies and divisions. What did practitioners and theorists embrace and what did they critique? How did the principles of Arts and Crafts change over time and in different contexts? What were theorists and activists looking for when they asked “Where is our William Morris?” and how did that figure become mobilized in a quest for legitimation in the global frame?   

Furthermore, since many craft revivals came out of similar circumstances such as uneven industrialization or were catalyzed in response to colonization, how did “Arts and Crafts” function as a category of contestation and valuation spanning colonial institutions and individual settlers, and local and Indigenous communities? We will consider the particular manifestations of craft revivals around the world and their influence on the translation, appropriation, and reinterpretation of Arts and Crafts ideals in global and transnational contexts with an emphasis on colonialism, nationalism, and gender. This enlargement of the concept of Arts and Crafts also has a critical aspect in that it expands the ways we understand “Arts and Crafts” to encompass a variety of forms of craft revival and persistence, whether directly inspired by William Morris or not. The Arts and Crafts had an exceptional influence on craft revival in a wide range of cases: sometimes for anti-colonial purposes, sometimes to mobilize the language of craft as part of colonial policy. This project will emphasize how we might understand the legacy of Arts and Crafts not solely as a diffusion from center to periphery, while also perceiving how it was received and mobilized by different groups.   

Our contention is that critical reflection on craft pasts might help inform craft futures amid emergent discourses of decoloniality, anti-capitalism, and sustainability, many of which revive themes and questions that were much debated by thinkers and practitioners in the Arts and Crafts nearly a century ago. 

We invite 15-minute papers on any topic that expands the study of Arts and Crafts and its legacies, and are particularly interested in topics or geographies not represented in the literature on Arts and Crafts, such indigenous craft (including craft in residential and indigenous vocational schools in Canada); Africa; China; Central Asia; South and Central America; South East Asia; and the legacies of Arts and Crafts today. Contributions from emerging scholars, curators and museum professionals, and craft practitioners are welcome. Selected contributions may be invited for publication in an edited volume and/or in the project online portal.

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words and a CV to antonia.behan@queensu.ca by September 1, 2023.