In my organisational report for the first two weeks, I focused on the ‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre of Organizational’ with the aim of establishing a similar ‘transnational’ relationship of its own Craft education platform as my contribution to our group’s upcoming curatorial project. Although the concept of ‘transnational’ gave me some ideas to map a community-based craft education platform, I felt I needed some time to think about what kind of craft education platform I needed to create and how the form and content would relate. The notes below describe my initial thoughts on these aspects.
Provisional project title: Sustainable Craft Education Week – Making and Learning
General thoughts on the ‘platform’.
My ‘Sustainable Craft Education Week’ should happen in a studio workplace. The studio could prompt relationships between participants and craft relationships. The studio could also act as a ‘hub’ concept, offering craft projects and exploring meaningful and sustainable material engagement, encouraging craft making and experimentation.
I will commission craftspeople to provide traditional craft practices, materials, their connections to place and the natural world, and a circular economy in their own time.
The participants all respond to the subject by developing craft skills, fun, creativity and experimentation, resulting in several activities.
I argue that these decisions about craft education platforms are intrinsically linked to any decisions about content. This will be explained below.
Regarding the general idea of ‘content’.
The content of my curatorial project is determined on the basis of the format of the craft education platform, in which I will include the following two elements.
1 / Learn Case Studies
I will offer a collection of case studies produced as part of the ‘Make and Learn’ research project. Location: Studio Workshop
– Glass Art Project – unlocking learning and achievement
– Craft Making Circles – A Sustainable Future
– Crafters with Teachers – Continuing Professional Development in the Classroom Unlocking Craft
– Modern Makers – the next generation of contemporary craft makers
Each of the above options seems to require some sort of curatorial conception to cue the curatorial content out as sourcing, commissioning and dissemination.
2 / Make Lessons map
Use a ‘Make a Learning Map’ as a guide. Emphasis is placed on craft networks and educational activities that take place outside of the school environment on a global scale. Location: Crafters’ Workshop
LESSON OVERVIEW
Grade Level: 9-12
Estimated Time: Two 45-minute class periods (research) & Five 45-minute class periods (studio work)
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Craft topics, discussion questions, activities, background reading, vocabulary, worksheets
As mentioned above, content and form are necessarily interrelated and complementary. Some ideas for this are given below.
The use of ‘map’ booklets as a form of communication.
The use of ‘posters’ as a form of publicity.
A ‘research booklet’ form printed for the seminar.
In addition to these fairly traditional formats, there are options that might combine form and content by way of an overlapping relationship between events and hotspots.
Conclusion
In line with the plans for the next curatorial project, I will continue to work on my idea of a ‘sustainable craft education week’ as I feel that adopting a combination of ‘mapping’ form and content leads to the whole curatorial project becoming more visible.
