Trust the notoriously eccentric English to operate a council devoted exclusively to crafting. Now don't get me wrong, I love crafts as much as the next guy and gal, but seriously? A CRAFTS COUNCIL!? Cities have councils, as do various professional groups, and while crafting is certainly a noble occupation it hardly screams "lets make by-laws and occupational regulations!"
I stumbled across the Crafts Council, pictured above, on yesterday's long walk from The Angel (the location of the illustrious City University) to Russell Square. *As a side note: it's very easy to think of London as a messy web of tube stops without any surface geography to connect them up. It seems that walking/busing/biking is the best way to make the city better hang together in my mind.
Anyway, on the walk, I happened upon a huge Georgian building with shinily-embossed words above the door that read "CRAFTS COUNCIL." Naturally, I did a bit of a double take. Who'dha thought that such a traditionally low-brow pastime would occupy such a high-brow building!?
For me, crafting is something that immediately brings to mind messy-faced, paint-stained children and elderly be-sweater-setted retirees desperately attempting to fill bags and bags of free time. But maybe I shouldn't be so quick to assign such stereotypes. The crafting community is indeed a diverse one, stretching across cultures and through time; it seems to be a pretty long-standing fixture in human society. The Council is quick to point out that in the UK alone, crafting is an 800 million pound-a-year (~$1.4 billion CAD) industry--Holy PVA glue, Batman! And yet, we always distinguish common crafts from their more exclusive artsy cousins.
A bit of Googling reveals that the Crafts Council's mission is "to position the UK as the global centre for the making, seeing and collecting of contemporary craft." Why they're doing this, I'm not sure, but I guess when you occupy a building that looks like it'll stand the test of time and has the endorsement of dominant culture, you can really do whatever the chuck you want, gosh darn it all!
Ahem, well,.... I really didn't mean to go on so long about crafts...ooops! The whole idea of such an elevated crafting culture still strikes me as a bit odd, though. Maybe I'll figure it out between now and the next post!
I hope you're all doing splendidly. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to track down some lunch!
H
xo
Ah Heather, the crafting culture is indeed alive and well in North America as well. I encourage you to contrast and compare your find with the Canadian Crafts Federation or the American Craft Council, or the separate and distinct craft councils of each of the Canadian provinces, including PEI. Google and you will find. Where there is activity, there can and will be governance. Love you! D
ReplyDeleteHow reassuring and empowering it must be for the crafty to learn that there is such an illustrious crafting authority spreading the good glitter and watching out for the best interests of crafters everywhere! (Or, specifically, in Britain).
ReplyDeleteYesterday I turned the TV on to PBS, and wound up learning to paint a mountainous woodland scene on Yarnell School of Art (memorable quotation: [casually] "those of you who are new to this might not expect this, but for those of you who have been watching the show for the last seventeen or eighteen years...").
Subsequently a similarily homemade show from Alabama about sewing came on. I really enjoyed watching the host's preamble, but then she introduced her guest: one of her friends from the editorial board of the Sewing magazine, and something of an expert on "surging" (whatever that is). The poor woman was MORTIFIED to find herself in front of a TV camera, reciting a script that had clearly been painstakingly rehearsed (putting the "pain" in "painstaking") with an ever-increasing waver in her voice. I was proud to see that she carried on, brave thing that she was, but I unfortunately could not bear to watch it any further. Her discomfort was contagious.
...wow, I didn't realize that I had so much to say about crafts either!
It's always good to hear what you're up to, Heather, and I hope you are having a lovely day in Angleterre!
HONS-G and in-Kingston appreciators are currently enjoying a visit from our own British Columbian darling, Hanna, which is fab! We're thinking of doing chocolate fondue tonight. I wish you could be here too! We miss you tonnes!
Drink a pint for me!
Love always,
-Thomas