Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution
14-Oct-2009
Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution is the title of Craftspace’s next major national touring exhibition, curated with maker and academic Helen Carnac. The exhibition launches at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on 17th October 2009.
It features the work of nineteen contemporary makers and artists reflecting on a slow revolution: considering ideas around time and process, material and value, site and locality, relationships to community and the changing nature of production and consumption.
“The exhibition considers a position where craft making and contemporary studio practices have obvious similarities to the values and philosophies of the Slow Movement, which has developed as a reaction to society’s unsustainable consumerist culture and fast lifestyles. Parallels include the common ground shared with artisanal food production, the commitment to values of quality, provenance and locale, but also to engaging in a more reflective mode of practice. Thinking about these philosophies and how they relate to current social issues we hope that we can begin to show that craft and its methodologies can generate a modern and timely response.” Helen Carnac Maker and Academic
“The taking time exhibition shows how craft fits into the Slow culture-quake. It offers a thrilling reminder that every object has a story behind it and that the art of making matters hugely to all of us.” Carl Honoré Author of In Praise of Slow
The nineteen exhibitors cover a broad range of practice including ceramic, textile, jewellery, up-cycling fashion and textile, letter cutting, furniture, enamelling, animation, digital representation, photography and participatory work. Enamel artist Elizabeth Turrell will also be producing new work for the exhibition. Throughout her career Elizabeth has had a fascination with badges, their ability to signify a person’s interests or reflect history and social developments through their collection. Continuing this interest Elizabeth will be creating badges, which reflect three people’s personal histories. These badges will then be produced by Jewellery Quarter based badge-makers Fattorini. Established in 1827, Fattorini is a family run and owned manufacturing business, with an international reputation not only for the production of enamel badges but silverware, insignia and medals. All these are produced through a mixture of high quality traditional craftsmanship and technology.
As part of her commission for Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution, Elizabeth Turrell initiated a project with MA students at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University. The students have since graduated from their course. The students were encouraged to explore Birmingham and photograph, collect and discover things that they thought reflected something interesting about the city. Several took the opportunity to explore parts of Birmingham they wouldn’t normally see. In keeping with the ethos of the exhibition one group took a canal trip round Birmingham, another took out two hours to ride the outer circle bus route to see what the people of Birmingham see whilst going about their daily lives. One took a walk around the Jewellery Quarter looking through gates and fences at activity on the other side. Following their research, the eleven graduates designed and made their own badges to reflect Birmingham. These badges are featured in the exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Alongside these pieces, Professor Jivan Astfalck, Course Director for the MA course, is giving young visitors the opportunity to contribute to a piece exploring Birmingham. 16-24 year olds visiting the exhibition will be encouraged to create their own badge, with the materials available. Sections of maps of Birmingham will be on display for the participants to pin their badges to, to show where they are from, the places they have been to or think about.This will continue for the duration of the exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution will tour nationally until 2011. For more information please visit www.craftspace.co.uk.