On Craft and Care

Within the world of contemporary craft and design, Glenn Adamson needs no introduction. With a long list of credits to his name, including Senior Scholar at the Yale Centre of British Art, Director of the Museum of Art and Design, New York, Head of Research at the VMA and Curator at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, Glenn is a writer and curator who works at the intersection of craft, design, history and contemporary art.

Craft ACT Accredited Professional Member, Julie Bartholomew sat down (via Zoom, as is the custom these days) to chat about the 2020 Craft ACT Members Exhibition, c/o Craft, and to find out why care is important to craft and how craft will be impacted in the post-pandemic world.

Adamson describes craft as a key social anchor point between ourselves and the people that make the world around us and a “model of good practice that can be applied to other things”. He believes the relevance of craft is a trend that was already underway but has been accelerated by the COVID_19 pandemic, providing “reassurance and continuity in a period of massive disruption”.

Craft’s ability to simultaneously draw out tradition and combine with innovation at the same time is highlighted in the c/o Craft exhibition. Adamson explains, “you see so many things in the [Craft] ACT show that have that kind of combination of values, of respect and creativity. And that's really what you come to craft for… you don't come to it just to be reminded of what you already love. You also come to it to see things that are new. Equally you don't just come to it for novelty. You also come to it for a kind of foundational experience of culture. And I think the show does that marvellously.”

Want to see more:

• Watch the conversation here
• Read Glenn’s essay here
• Find out more about the exhibition here

Cover image: Rolf Barfoed, Lamina, 2020. Photo: Lightbulb Studio

Above image: René Linssen, Sola Coffee Table, 2020. Photo Brenton Colley.