Biennial International Conference for the Craft Sciences

The ON-LINE conference took place on May 4-6, 2021.

See the Keynotes and read the abstracts by clicking here

Read the conference Proceedings by clicking here

Craft Sciences refer to a unity of research conducted in different craft subjects. The Biennial International Conference for the Craft Sciences aims to expose the breadth of topics, source material, methods, perspectives and results that reside in this field. The conference provides a platform for communicating craft research beyond the borders of faculties and disciplines. Through the collaboration with the University of Gothenburg’s Centre for Digital Humanities and Media Technology, the conference will provide novel and supported ways to better elicit the performative and material nature of craft research. The traditional call for research papers is amplified with calls for filmed articles, interactive applications, demonstrations and exhibitions. The submitted research contributions have gone through a double blind peer review process and the conference proceedings will be published in FORMAkademisk Journal as a whole, and a selection of the contributions will be developed further to form a special issue in Craft Research Journal, both are level 1 Journals according to JUFO and NSD.

Craft in Action

The Craft Laboratory, Mariestad, May 4-6, 2021

Keynotes:

We are happy to announce that the keynotes of our conference include the following speakers: Tim Ingold, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. The keynote-in-dialogue between craft researcher Camilla Groth (University of South-Eastern Norway) and neuroscientists Riitta Hari, Veikko Jousmäki, and Veli-Matti Saarinen (Aalto University) comprises of a clay-throwing performance combined with monitoring of the potter’s behavior using thermal camera and eye-gaze tracker, as well as an interactive discussion of the goals and results of this kind of art–science efforts. We will also have the opportunity to hear a speech by Bengt Molander, Professor of Philosophy at NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim.

Professor Tim Ingold. Image courtesy of Tim Ingold

Keynote abstracts and profiles

Workshops

We will arrange 4 on-line workshops on Wednesday May 5th, between 9 -11 am. Please contact the organisers of the workshop directly to secure your place in it, remember that there are limited numbers for participation – first come first serve. We will inform here if one of the workshops are full. The workshops take place simultaneously so you may only participate in one workshop.

WORKSHOP: “We Are What We Eat”, This is a digital craft workshop where the acts of cooking, eating and recipe writing are positioned as non-hierarchical craft activities. During the workshop we will explore ideas of personal and community identity through culinary experience, from a phenomenological perspective. Through this participatory research we dive into the history embedded within the culinary process, and its potential as a method of re-enacting our personal, social histories. During the workshop participants will be guided through a series of culinary-based writing activities and group discussions resulting in each participant producing a recipe document with links to their personal, social histories.In preparation for the workshop participants will be invited to complete a short cooking task. Participant will need to purchase ingredients themselves, the estimated maximum cost for these ingredients 150SKR. In addition, participants will be required to bring some culinary items with them to the session.We will collect the following data during the workshop: the session recording and copies of the participants final recipes. The duration of the workshop is estimated to about: 2.5hrs

‘We Are What We Eat’ is led by the craft artists Amy Peace Buzzard and Laia Ribas Valls as part of an ongoing collaboration Food is Home. Amy Peace Buzzard is a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art, UK. www.amypeacebuzzard.com Laia Ribas Valls is a craft educator and freelance creative based in Sweden. www.laiaribasvalls.com To enrol to the workshop: contact the workshop organizers directly.

Contact and registration: Amy Peace Buzzard amy.peacebuzzard@network.rca.ac.uk and Laia Ribas Valls l.ribas.valls@gmail.com

WORKSHOP: “Teaching traditional crafts at higher education“ This workshop aims to examine how traditional crafts at higher education are taught, what are the challenges for teaching them, and how the participants conceive traditional crafts. The workshop is meant for participants teaching any form of crafts at higher education. It is arranged in a discussion group in which the participants reflect on their views and experiences. The purpose is to share understanding of the importance, possibilities, and challenges of traditional crafts within the general academic requirements. The aim is to encourage the participants to look for innovative approaches to already established practices by exchanging knowledge, experiences and visions on how to combine traditional crafts with the contemporary environment and the labour market.

The workshop evolves around three topics, which you may think about beforehand:

1) The role of traditional crafts at higher education

2) Teaching and learning traditional crafts at higher education

3) The concept and wider influences of traditional craft.

To allow the participants more lively interaction, the discussions will partly take place in small groups. For the research background, theoretical foundation, and development of the topics, see the extended workshop abstract on the conference portal. The workshop is arranged via Zoom: link will be provided. The plenary discussion will be recorded and the participants need to consent with this.

Contact and registration: Sirpa Kokko, sirpa.kokko@helsinki.fi, Gunnar Almevik, gunnar.almevik@conservation.gu

WORKSHOP: “Life with Materials”. Crafting is a powerful method to start and convey critical discussions on materiality that can change the course of how people relate to environmental causes. In this workshop, through working with wool, we invite participants to explore crafts as a means to re-establishing relationships of respect and care with the material world we live in and live with. By utilizing the notion of being with materials, participants will explore various sensorial experiences emerging from material engagement by slowing down and thinking about the surrounding world. The workshop will start with presenting the ideas behind it, such as the notion of being with materials. After introducing felting with locally sourced, undyed and non-treated wool, workshop participants will work with wool and simple processes of felting, using the material they will receive prior to the workshop. During the workshop, the group will share their opinions, insights and reflections emerging from material interaction on the personal and societal levels. The workshop will become a platform to reconsider how to build our relationship with the material environment and initiate a dialogue with the self. The workshop will be recorded for academic research purposes.

This online workshop, takes 2 hours, it is open to max 10 participants, the participants will be sent a package of materials for the workshop in the mail before the sessions so please register to this workshop well in time.

Contact and registration: Bilge Merve Aktaş bilge.aktas@aalto.fi, Priska Falin priska.falin@aalto.fi &Julia Valle Noronha julia.valle@aalto.fi

WORKSHOP: “Waste Stories”. Our workshop “Waste Stories” explores attitudes, understanding and behaviour towards waste in the setting of the contemporary design field. We, a group of design educators and practitioners, will introduce our research project `Waste camp´ and use it as a starting point for a collaborative exploration and conversation about waste, of so-called waste and practical knowledge and time. We will also share what happened when we dived into the world of industrial waste and explored how the concept of waste changes when it is lifted into a practical craft context and how we individually reflect on our relation to waste. In this workshop we would like to invite you to our `camp‘ to explore industrial waste material together (you will receive probes in advance. We also would like to share, listen and collect your stories about your relational waste as researchers, artists and practioners. By defining waste and our attitudes to it in stories, we hope to raise awareness of what, why and how waste occurs during artistic and industrial processes, and what could affect our way of thinking and working in the future.

Program for the workshop:

Introduction to Waste Stories and our research project Waste camp (30 minutes)
The workshop participants discuss and write their own Waste stories (30 minutes)
Practice-based work with industrial waste as building material. The workshop participants make addition to the Waste camp installation and exhibition (50 minutes)
Conclusion and sum up (10 minutes)

The number of participants is limited to 15. You need to register before April 30, 8 a.m.

The participants who will register well in time will be sent a package of materials for the workshop. Please provide name and postal address to have the material sent.

Contact and registration: Anna-Karin Arvidsson: anna-karin.arvidsson@lnu.se or Stephan Hruza: stephan.hruza@lnu.se

For registration, please click here