From ‘Heritage Adepts’ to Historical Reconstructionists: Observations on Contemporary Estonian Male Heritage-Based Artisanry

On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork, conducted between 2007 and 2013, the authors analyse the communities of male artisans that have had the most significant impact on the development of contemporary Estonian handicraft. A wide range of artisans were surveyed in the course of this research, from professionals who earn a living from handicraft to amateurs, small enterprises and handicraft instructors. The authors concentrate on the motifs and background of different categories of handicraft agent. Details of handicraft practice such as mastering specific items, local peculiarities and materials used will be also explored. The analysis is predominantly based on the artisans’ views on proper ways of making handicraft items, their marketing strategies and the needs of developing their skills. The study demonstrates that artisanal initiatives support the material reproduction of cultural locations through constant renewal of heritage ideology and practice

Contemporary processes and historical precedents for handmade crafts practice in the context of technological change

[v.1 Dissertation] -- [v.2. Exegesis : Studio practice component

Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980

Covering the 1960s and 1970s, this volume explores new ways of investigating, comparing and interpreting the different domains of design culture across the Nordic countries. Challenging the traditional narrative, this volume argues that the roots of the most prominent features of Nordic design’s contemporary significance are not to be found amongst the objects for the home collectively branded as ‘Scandinavian Design’ to great acclaim in the 1950s, but in the discourses, institutions and practices formed in the aftermath of that oft-told success story, during the turbulent period between 1960 and 1980. This is achieved by employing multidisciplinary approaches to connect the domains of industrial production, marketing, consumption, public institutions, design educations, trade journals as well as public debates and civic initiatives forming a design culture. This book makes a significant contribution to current, international agendas of historiographical critique focusing on transnational relations and the deconstruction of national design histories. This book will be of interest to scholars in design, design history and Scandinavian studies

Revitalising brassware handicrafts in Terengganu, Malaysia through sustainable design

The state of Terengganu has been long recognised as Malaysia’s national capital of brassware handicrafts. Here, traditional knowledge and wisdom are made manifest by skilled artisans who use local materials to create culturally distinctive products. These products and practices have strong historical connections to the people of the region, to the notion of place and to the sense of community. However, in recent decades, this handicraft industry, like many others around the world, has been in decline. The effects of globalisation and modernisation have affected the viability of craft practices as well as the way local societies perceive and value craft products. The research consisted of extensive qualitative studies that included semi-structured interviews involving 37 informants and followed by exploratory case studies comprising direct observation, photographic documentation and document analysis that were carried out through investigation of the brassware craft sector and its associated practices in Kuala Terengganu region. This research set out to determine the value of significance of brassware handicraft and to identify design opportunities in order to develop design-oriented strategies to revitalise culturally significant design, products and practices of brassware handicraft in Terengganu, Malaysia. This research looks at how can brassware handicraft, as a culturally significant craft practice, be revitalised in Malaysia through effective design contribution that is in accord with principles of sustainability. Findings suggest that collaborative design practice involving various organisations in the community is needed to better convey and promote the value of the cultural, philosophical, historical significance of these crafts and their relationship to place, culture, community and identity. In doing so, collaborative design has the potential to stimulate a greater appreciation and sense of belonging towards Malaysia’s traditional material culture and potentially raise the profile, and prospects for these important craft practices

Curriculum convergence and divergence in 'Industrial Design' and 'Technology' programmes in Higher Education

Curriculum convergence and divergence in 'Industrial Design' and 'Technology' programmes in Higher Educatio

Re-integrating Design Education: Lessons from History

Throughout its short history, formal design education has struggled to find a balance between imparting technical skills and fostering bigger picture, critical and conceptual thinking; and also between notions of passive and active learning. As educators become ever cognizant of a future marked by environmental crisis and accompanying complex problems of population flux, civil unrest, pollution and waste, achieving a balance between “know how” and meta-level thinking has become more pressing. The premise of this paper is that a 21st Century design education can further this goal by confronting the productivist entanglements of its past. It will argue that the lessons of its turbulent relationship with industry provide the seeds for an approach to learning that is better integrated with industry and society than conventional hypothetical studio assignments allow

Revitalising Traditional Malay Woodcarving through Design for Sustainability

In the age of global industrialisation and mass production, traditional crafts offer an example of long-standing ‘local’ approaches to material culture that are often socially, environmentally and economically reifying. However, evidence suggests that traditional crafts struggle to survive, and this is also the case in Malaysia. Moreover, there has been limited academic investigation into the meaning and manifestation of sustainable development among craftspeople, and the relationship of this to traditional Malaysian heritage. The central aim of this thesis is to investigate the potential and provide an in-depth understanding of the relationship between Malay craft and design for sustainability, focusing especially on traditional woodcarving. The key research question is; How can woodcarving, as a culturally significant craft practice, be revitalised in Malaysia through effective design contributions and in accordance with sustainable design principles? Data was collected via semi-structured interviews in Malaysia with 37 respondents from three groups of stakeholders in the craft industry: producers, supporters, and buyers; two case studies were also carried out in Malaysia. The relationships reviewed between various themes and sub-themes and organising them as a coherent whole constitutes an extensive qualitative study. Five main research findings are identified, which informed the development of a Craft Revitalisation Framework for Malay Traditional Woodcarving. This framework identifies key factors and their relationships that can inform context appropriate revitalisation strategies among the various stakeholders. The study recognises the need to involve appropriate stakeholders, including designers, in the development of such strategies. The conclusions from this study provide a better understanding on the significance, value and meaning of traditional Malay crafts, including woodcarving, in accordance with the principles of sustainability. In addition, it offers a useful tool and a well-founded direction to help ensure the future viability of craft practices

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction

Sell (It) Yourself: Marketing Pleasure in Digital DIY

DIY (do-it-yourself) craft is in the midst of a North American renaissance, and the reasons attributed to the phenomenon\u27s meteoric rise are manifold. Thrift, conspicuous consumption, politics, environmental activism, nostalgia, individuality, community: each in turn has been cited as the driving force behind handicraft\u27s recent blossoming. In this dissertation I examine the work of professional and semi-professional crafters through an alternative explanatory lens, one that is noticeably absent from academic investigations of DIY and underutilized in the scholarship on creative work at large: the rhetoric of pleasure. Through an examination of in-depth interviews with Etsy sellers and DIY bloggers, textual analysis of promotional materials from individual crafters and from Etsy.com, and participant observation at indie craft fairs and local knitting groups, I trace pleasure\u27s effect on the chronology of commercial handicraft. First, drawing on Roland Barthes\u27s distinction between jouissance and plaisir, as well as Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi\u27s concept of flow, I argue that the pleasure crafters derive from the act of making DIY is itself bifurcated, at once concretizing and destabilizing their sense of self. I then direct my attention to the handcrafted object\u27s sale, maintaining that both jouissance and plaisir are folded into the professional crafters\u27 marketing narratives to build their personal brands and signal their creative authenticity. Finally I consider interactions between individuals in the craft community and the nature of the Etsy exchange, suggesting that commercial handicraft functions simultaneously as gift and commodity. However the primacy of pleasure throughout the sale of DIY obscures the challenges that creative entrepreneurship engenders. But in considering these oft unrecognized hardships--the loneliness and isolation; the endless administrative burdens; the pressures of a saturated marketplace--it becomes clear that there is a deep-seated irony at work: the more successful a maker becomes and the bigger her business grows, the farther away she moves from personally experiencing jouissance. I conclude by arguing that this paradox is emblematic of neoliberal creative work at large and points to the limits of the creative class thesis. I suggest that the surest path to the pleasures of creative production might in fact lie outside its professionalization