MARCH/APRIL 1986

Crafts Council of Ireland Thomas Prior House Merrion Road Dublin 4 Telephone 680764 / 603070

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CREATIVE THINKING KEYTO QUALITYMr Eddie Collins TD, Minister of Stateat the Department of Industry andCommerce, opening the exhibition"Burren Impact," spoke of the Burrenbeing not only a botanists' andarchaeologist's paradise, but also onefor craftsmen as evidenced by theexhibition.

"The craftworker is part of Ireland'shistory and tradition," said Mr Collins,"and is both a preserver and aninterpreter of a national heritage and acultural richness that is knownthroughout the world. Nowhere inIreland is that tradition and culturalrichness more evident than in theBurren area of Co. Clare.

"The first Burren Workshop was heldin 1982 in Ballyvaughan; themotivating force then, as now, theCrafts Council of Ireland's ViceChairman, Alison Erridge and theClare Craftworkers Association, withsome help from the Crafts Council.The idea behind it was, in a sense, toget back to basics, to paper andpencil, crayon or brush. In a veryintensive week participants were ableto take a fresh look at their workgetting from that unique landscapenew visions and new ideas whichwould lead eventually to newdirections in design.

"The third Burren Workshop, of whichthis exhibition is the culmination, tookplace last September. The scale of theworkshop was enlarged in that itbecame a craft design and productdevelopment programme coveringtextiles and pottery. There wasexternal training funding by AnCO

Continued on back page

BURREN IMPACTAbove, Burren Bui! by PeterWolstenholme.Below, Square dish by Geoffrey Healy.Photos E F Sutton.

KILWORTH 4 IN UK

The successful exhibition of the work of graduates of the first four years of the Kilworth Craft Workshops which has been shown in Cork, Dublin and Ballycasey was on show recently in London. Commencing during the St Patrick's Day week at the Waterman's Art Centre in Brentford, kindly sponsored by the Federation of Irish Societies in UK, an exhibition of this quality took many of the Irish community by surprise as hitherto they had, seemingly, been more used to a diet of leprecaunary and the more traditional cliches in Irish crafts. Full marks therefore to John Fahy, Secretary of the Federation, for raising the level and for creating the opportunity to show what, though small, is a worthwhile exhibition of good work and accessible.

The comments at the exhibition were mainly of some delight at finding out that Ireland did have craft products of top series production or one-offs of good quality yet reasonably priced. The most noted comment was "we didn't know Ireland made things like this — where are the Arans, the crochet, the things we always seem to see."

Kilworth 4 opened in Ireland House, CTT's London Offices and Showrooms in New Bond Street on 2 April.

Speaking at the opening in London Justin Keating said that the Exhibition was in a symbolic sense, important. "The reason is that the thing we celebrate, through the Kilworth 4 Exhibition, is the Kilworth Craft Workshops. The people, the skills, the spirit and the relationships that they have built up in a short time are, in my view, extremely important, culturally, economically and socially.

"Kilworth is a small village in North Cork, set in lovely rich countryside close to the legendary River Blackwater. It used to be a place where stage coaches stopped on the Dublin-Cork road, but now the main route passes it by, to its gain, I must say. There the old Market House has become the home of the Kilworth Craft Workshops, the result of a remarkable 3-way cooperation, between the Crafts Council of Ireland, AnCO and the local Community Council."

The idea, he suggested, was a simple one, Kilworth Craft Workshops being a step in the development of the

artist-craftworker, inserted between the end of their period of study or apprenticeship and the setting up by the particular individual of their own independent place of work.

"What is shown here today is an exhibition of the first four years of development at Kilworth, done by the twenty-nine young people who have worked there during that period. The range of craftwork comprises most of the major disciplines. It is for you to judge the beauty and the quality. In my view the standards are extremely high. They are a part in fact of a remarkable silent revolution which has been taking place in Irish culture.

"We are seen worldwide as a people possessed of a remarkable culture, but principally in the fields of words and music. In the past, we sang, in the fullest sense of that word, with extraordinary force and beauty, but often to make reality go away, or to try to change it without working. But historically, and with honourable exceptions, architecture and all the plastic and graphic arts were less good. I think word and music arts are still exceedingly strong in Ireland and getting more so. But now our spectrum of cultural activity is becoming more complete. Beautiful houses and public buildings and vastly better cooking are part of a renaissance.

"In areas and disciplines where the old folk tradition of craft skills had not fully died out a very extraordinary growth of the artist-craftworker is occuring, building on old foundations, to be sure, but in breaking down the barrier between art and craft, and in the range and force and vitality and quality of their work, doing something very new, very important and largely unnoticed.

"It is to redress that latter omission, the relative unawareness of this great upsurge, both within and outside Ireland, that Kilworth 4 has come to London."

Justin Keating pointed out that fine art and applied art formed a continuum. "Economically in time of recession the craft workshop is a source of a livelihood at very low capital cost, it is a source of immense added value, and, while no one suggests that the craft movement can make a central contribution to the economic success of a society, it can be the means of revitalising individual communities which we would be much the poorer for losing. But the

most important argument relates not to the craftsperson or the individual supportive community. The most important argument relates to us, the consumers of the beautiful things that craftworkers produce.

"Alienation is one of the greatest ills of our world. The best personal antidote is to live with objects which result from the loving committed work of one particular human being, working in an individual and personal style, working in a particular place (preferably a beautiful place like Kilworth), objects which bear the marks of one individual indentifiable human hand, on one particular day. Objects, in short, of human dimension, containing human effort and passion are an important way of keeping us human.

"When compared to what we have grown blase about paying for motor cars or hi-fi, craft objects are very cheap indeed, and in our topsy-turvy world the artists who make them are willing to live very simply.

"I suggest that we have a desperate need to live among such things and to rear our children among such things. I suggest that they are part of the cure for alienation. I suggest that any serious strategy for personal survival in a mad world must include the habit of buying and keeping and using the objects produced by artist-craftworkers."

Those present at the opening included representatives from the Irish Embassy, CTT, IDA, the Royal College of Art, the UK Crafts Council present and previous Directors and, as well as home pregs, Cork Examiner and Irish Press, the media included the Daily Telegraph, The Listener, Good Housekeeping, Woman, etc.

County Wexford Near Wexford Town

18th Century Enclosed Stable Yard To be let in 8 Craft Units

For information Tel: 053-22779

Irish Spinners Ltd. Kirtimagh, Co. Mayo Pure new wool bainin and coloured hand knitting yarns. Telephone (094) 81156

BURREN IMPACTHanging. Painted wool twill by AlisonWootten. Photo E F Sutton

MUSEUMS AND THECRAFTSby Michael RobinsonWhen the Victoria and Albert Museumwas founded one of its prime aimswas..."to encourage and support artand industry by collecting andpresenting the best of the old and thenew." It thus declared quite clearlythat it saw its role as a promoter ofthe present and as a stimulus to theliving. The permanent collections ofmany museums these days, however,could give the impression that theoverriding aim is to concentratecollecting and research energies onthe past to the exclusion of a presentwhich can be left to its own devicesuntil such time as it may becomfortably studied withoutpresenting too many of its owndilemmas. Apart from the fact thatthis is always a safer way ofcollecting, hindsight being morereliable than speculative oranticipatory selection, such activitiescan be defended on the grounds thatthe past is a type of cultural crisisarea disappearing into the hands ofprivate collectors, investors andforeigners faster than we can recordit. After all there are Arts Councils andArts Centres to arrange exhibitions ofthe living and Crafts Councils andSmall Business Units and the like tooffer them material support andassistance, so surely museums canbe left to further their monasticresearches into a gloriously recedingpast and to promote the contributionsmade by deceased worthies into ahistory we interpret to suit ourselves.

No! This must not be allowed tohappen either by default on the part ofcurators unaware of their own timeand its contribution to a history inwhich museums play a most criticaland significant role, or by theircontrolling bodies who may see themuseums as no more than objectmemory banks of past glories. Theencouragement and support of art andindustry is, if anything, moreimportant today than it was in aVictorian world of expansionism on allfronts, almost unlimited capital,boundless optimism, incredibleinventiveness and virtuosocraftsmanship.

continued in next'page

BURREN IMPACTInside the Abbey. Ceramic by PeterWolstenholme. Photo E F Sutton

The artist/designer/craftsmen of today are making a contribution to our time that suffers greatly from a lack of public awareness and recognition. The public long used to being catered for by mass production methods do not have the opportunity to make selections from all the possibilities available because retail outlets, including art galleries, rarely show what is happening in the crafts. This is sad because, contrary to widely expressed opinions, the public do identify with the things they live with and use and yet little is done to foster and develop their responses. There is practically no informed criticism or assessment of craft activity, and those conscious of it, whilst bewailing the lack of good contemporary studio-made goods on the market, can be over critical of the work that doe's appear. There may be nothing good to say about the tasteless, tawdry rubbish that fills so many of the "craft shops" strewing our tourist routes, but we must encourage those who strive to attain standards in what is a bleak and hard world where a meagre living may be the only measure of success.

Can museums play an active role in the encouragement and stimulation of art and what can be small scale industry and do it in a way that is seen clearly as a museum initiative rather than that of an Arts/Crafts Council? That distinction must be recognised. Museums are primarily collection-based with a commitment to collect, conserve and study of at least equal priority to that of exhibiting or presentation by other means. They do devote considerable energy to exhibitions but with the accent on permanent or semi­permanent displays rather than the constantly changing Arts/Crafts Council programmes of exhibitions. An Arts/Crafts Council usually has a brief covering a specific geographical area and, whilst it may present exhibitions from outside that area, cosmopolitanism is not always represented in its own collections. Museums need not be bound by this rule. Their collections are historically inspired and an essential foreign influence and stimulation does require representation. This is very important. If we are to encourage, and promote, particularly in the initial stages of development, examples of standards and concepts should be selected on their own merit, not simply because of local allegiance. Whilst concentration on the purely local may be a historical necessity it can be a retarding blight on a contemporary commitment. Junk is junk no matter where it is made and

complacency does not merit stimulation. The pursuit of excellence should be our aim, and we must recognise that this has nothing to do with xenophabic and geographical hangups or ideas of artistic apartheid. Today in a museum sense this is particularly true, things have changed enormously since the Victoria and Albert Museum opened its doors. Then we saw ourselves as the very peak of human endeavour and achievement, our technological skills unrivalled and our ability to replicate the dexterity of the past as a stimulating and novel challenge The museum was an engaging curio-cabinet of the antique, the strange and the quaint. Foreign skills in time as well as space could be regarded as ingenious, fascinating and complex, yet despite their mystique there was an implicit inferiority compared to the modern. With the decline of those imperialist values, recognition of the dehumanising elements in industrial production and the declining standards in so many areas of craftsmanship caused us to search most seriously amongst the quaintly foreign and the ancient for the secrets and the skills we had lost or abandoned. The museum became and educational aid of tremendous significance, its contents the inspiration and criteria for awakening standards, and the search for those standards has made us drop all concepts of our own local superiority, internationalism is one of the basic factors in contemporary arts and crafts and one can no longer talk of definable national or local styles when the individuals working in a particular area discover their reference sources from a world-history relating to several millennia.

Museums, whether they like it or not, as public collections, particularly of the modern, are seen as providing a seal of approval. Representation in them is a recognition of qualitative contribution to culture and progress, and the lack of representation of the crafts in their collections is frequently not just a sad indication of the lack of awareness of their merit, it is an abysmal failure to communicate to the public what in fact is the best of the new as well as the old. Particularly sad when the new is frequently better than the old.

Having outlined what museums should be doing and why they should be doing it, one realises how simple that is compared to the grim reality of how they set about doing it. I do not know of a museum these days that, realising the necessity to change or

modify its policies, has the financial backing and fluidity to effect those changes. Governments generally are prepared to talk of the viability of small scale industry and commission fact-finding tours to record and repeat their conclusions. They even fund various organisations to study and encourage craftsmen and are occasionally prepared to encourage them as employers. However, nothing is done to open already existing markets to them and museums are given no support whatsoever to collect those works that we have every right to be proud of as well as every obligation to be supporting. Perhaps museums should be seeking closer links with the economic development units of their equivalents. Maybe craftsmen should be willing to donate their best works to museums. One thing is certain and vital, and that is that museums should be doing something that very few of them are: collecting the best of the new as well as the old, and actively supporting and encouraging art and industry by presenting those collections to the communities they serve.

Michael Robinson is the Curator of Decorative Arts at the Ulster Museum.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I would like very much to thank all the craftworkers who participated in the National Crafts Trade Fair for their very beautiful and most generous present. It would be impossible to thank everyone individually so I would like to take this opportunity to convey my grateful thanks through the Newsletter.

I do not want to mention companies or individuals, but I understand that Lily Van Oost was the craftworker who managed to "coax" you all into subscribing to my wonderful gift. I thank each and everyone of you very very much.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Frank and the Secretariat for a most successful Fair. A lot of work goes into making the Fair so successful. I am sure I speak on behalf of you all.

I will continue to act on your behalf as your elected representative on the Management Committee for the next two years.

Once again, thank you all very much. Sincerely Blanaid (Reddin) 6 March 1986

WHO WANTS A CRAFTGALLERY?The Clare Craftworkers Associationthinks that craftsmen do. It hasarranged a full programme ofexhibitions in its Ballycasey unit up tonext January in the hope that it will besupported by craftsmen nationwide.All exhibitions are juried andconditions are simple, clear andinexpensive.

If we are ever to have a healthy one-offbuying sector, if we are ever to have agallery of our own in Dublin, then wemust start now — getting used toproducing work to deadlines, learningto sell, educating the public andcompiling figures and statistics toimpress the funding bodies.

Shannon is a good selling area.Ballycasey has a good throughput ofpeople. The Gallery is white painted,well-lit and heated. The ClareCraftworkers Association is preparedto organise and run the programme.Please support it.

Within the programme there shouldbe scope for everyone to send ussomething. Collection points are:Crafts Council, Dublin '2 days earlier,please) and Ballycasey.

Entry Fee 50p per exhibitor 'NOT peritem) plus 10p in the £1 after the first£5 sold. Each exhibitor must includes.a.e. with entries or we will notinform. The Gallery is itself insured,but items exhibited are not — this isthe exhibitors responsibility.

We propose to try to be open10 am — 5 pm Monday to Saturday2 pm — 5 pm Sunday

We will keep duplicates for you ifthere is a likelihood of several sales ofone item. We are prepared to provideinformation on workshop/studiolocation/hours ranges in response tointerested enquiries. We can't handleany but the most urgent phone callsand will charge for these. We cannotbe responsible for collecting orreturning goods but can collect andreturn to the Crafts Council of Ireland,Thomas Prior House, Ballsbridge,Dublin 4. (Please deliver early). Youmust collect goods within ouropening hours and we cannot allow aresidue of uncollected work to buildup. We will charge for reminders tocollect and will dispose ofuncollected work after 8 weeks.

Ring me, Alison Erridge, at 061-71343before 9.45 am or after 6 pm forinformation.

BURREN IMPACTWaterfall Cushion, silk embroidery.One of a cascade of 32 by AlisonErridge. Photo E F Sutton.

MAY 3-31. Clare Craftworkers SpringExhibition (with Woodturners?) Workto Ballycasey by 30 April. Take Away— 1 to 6 June.

JUNE 7-28. Blue and White ThemeExhibition. Work to Ballycasey by 5June. Take Away — 29 June to 4 July.

JULY 5-26. Teapots Theme Exhibition.Work to Ballycasey by 3 July. TakeAway — 27 July to 1 August.

AUGUST 2-30. Clare CraftworkersSummer Exhibition (with Spinners,Weavers & Dyers?) Work toBallycasey by 31 July. Take Away —31 August to 5 September.

SEPTEMBER 6-27. Ringing EarsTheme Exhibition. Work to Ballycasey

by 4 September. Take Away — 28September to 3 October.

OCTOBER 4-25. Craftsmen?Draughtsmen! Theme Exhibition.Work to Ballycasey by 2 October.Take Away — 26 to 31 October.

NOVEMBER 1-22. Winter WoolliesTheme Exhibition. Work to Ballycaseyby 30 October. Take Away — 23 to 28November.

NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 24. ClareCraftworkers Christmas Exhibition'with another organisation). Work toBallycasey by 27 November. TakeAway — 27 December to 2 January.

JANUARY 3-31. "On behalf of thisCompany." Presentation PiecesTheme Exhibition. Work to Ballycaseyby 31 December. Take Away — 1 to 5January.

FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL. To bearranged.

The artist Lily Van Oost became anIrish citizen in 1985. To mark theoccasion, she decided to present oneof her works to the National Museum.

The work, a woven wall-hangingentitled "Brian Boru's Coat" featuredin Ms Van Oost's recent exhibition ofwall-hangings and weavings in theTaylor Gallery.

The Minister of State for Arts andCulture, Mr Ted Nealon, TD formallyaccepted the work from Ms Van Oost,at the National Museum.

Thanking Ms Van Oost, the Ministersaid, "On behalf of the NationalMuseum, I am very happy to acceptthis most generous gift. As a very fineexample of contemporary weaving, itis a welcome addition to the IrishTextiles Collection."

Lily Van Oost delivering the gift to IheMuseum. Photo: NMI

US CRAFT BUYERATTITUDES

Store owners from the United Statesare convinced that Irish suppliers havevery little understanding of thedifferences between the Irish and USmarket. In particular, they believe thatIrish suppliers are misled by theirobservations of what sells toAmericans in this country. Storeowners in the US are more reliant onthe general mainstream of Americanpurchasers buying products foreveryday use or to enhance theirhomes. Their customers are highlydemanding. The message these storekeepers would wish to impart to theirIrish suppliers is a need to educatethemselves on the basic differencesin the market environment. Theemphasis must be on quality above allelse.

This is one of the major findingswhich emerged from recentlyconducted research by CTT at the10th National Craft Fair in Dublin. ThisFair attracts a large number of buyersfrom the United States and a decisionwas taken to attempt to utilise thefact that a broad cross section of keypurchasers were available in onecentre at the same time to sampletheir attitudes towards recent andlikely future developments within theirmarket sector. CTT commissioned aDublin based research firm, Behaviourand Attitudes Marketing Research toconduct qualitative group discussionswith buyers on each of threesuccessive days during the Trade Fair.

American buyers are beginning to seemajor shifts in their own business

A move away from reliance ongiftware towards a greater interestin fashion items;

Coupled with this a growinginterest in shopping around and inparticular examining alternativesources of supply like Scotland andWales;

In the clothing area, sweaters areparticularly important at present.Here, Irish products are failing tomatch competition. In onetraditional field — tweeds, there isa strong feeling that this sector isin decline and appealing perhaps toan older age group;

In both these sectors, sweaters andtweeds, buyers see a requirementfor a shift in emphasis towardsnewer lightweight materials andlighter colours. They feel it wouldbe possible to maintain an ethnicfeel but to update the products inthis way;

In regard to the Fair itself, thegeneral feeling is that the fashion

and clothing area has become soimportant to these buyers that itforms a natural part of their interestareas during their visit;

Treatment of clothing and fashionitems at present is not totallysatisfactory from their point of view.Many American buyers wouldwelcome the introduction of a formof fashion show. This would servethe dual purpose of exhibitingclothing items in a more attractiveway while at the same time helpingto educate them in an area of theirbusiness which they feel slightly"at a loss."

CTT has published a full report on thebasis of this research. The reportexamines in more detail the views ofbuyers in relation to their customerbase, the reaction to Irish suppliersand their perceptions ofdevelopments in key merchandiseareas. Their views on pricing,competition, the Fair itself and theproblems of dealings with Irishsuppliers are also presented. Thereport entitled "American Craft BuyersAttitudes" is available from CTT,priced IRE25.00.

CTT WORKSHOPS

The first two of the current CTT craft workshops have been held in Dublin and Tralee.

A further two of these will be held, one in Limerick on 29 April and one in Cork on 1 May. After the summer break, three further workshops will be held in Galway (13 October), Sligo (15 October) and Dublin (16 October).

The workshops will follow the formula already successfully used — that of a morning session with speakers from the Crafts Council, from important retailers both home and overseas, and from a buyer for a major US group — each stressing what is required of producers if they are to succeed in developing markets. Quite a lot of emphasis will be laid on preparation for trade fairs, in particular the Council's National Crafts Trade Fair.

The afternoon session is broken down

into a series of meetings on a one-to-one basis between participants and speakers

RDS C R A F T S AWARD A new award of £250 will be included among the special prizes in the forthcoming 1986 Crafts Competition. It will be awarded for work of outstanding merit to a craftworker who is aged under 25 years on Friday 11 July 1986. The award is being donated by Mrs Dorothy Brooks in

WANTED

Second-Hand Counter Marche Loom 4 or 8 Shafts

160 cm {64 inches) Phone 021-41791 (Between 6-7 pm)

Jane Sorenson

POTTER required for studio workshop Phone 093-24192

memory of her late husband, Mr Philip T Brooks, who was a member of the Society's Council and for many years Chairman of its Crafts Committee. Details of the RDS Crafts Competition will be available from The Arts Administrator, Royal Dublin Society, at the end of April 1986.

FOR S A L E

Lover spinning wheel and accessories Natural dye stuffs and wool fleeces

Supplied by Mary O'Rourke

Glenasmole Dublin 24

Taylor Metal Spinning Lathe Phone 01-945613

HAND-SPUN WOOL Shade card from

Curlew Designs, Boyle Co. Roscommon

Tel: Elaine 079-62579

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which enabled three internationallyrecognised craft workers to beincluded as workshop leaders.

"A precondition for participants at thisworkshop, as with the previousworkshops, was production of newwork for exhibition within six months.Once again the intensive magic of theBurren has worked and we have herethis evening 151 works by twenty-oneprofessional craftworkers includingthe three leaders. The works exhibitedmark a step forward from the designposition of the craftworkers beforeSeptember last. While some of thishas been subtle and seeminglyminimal it has in other cases beendramatic. It has in all cases beenprogressive.

"The works here are, of course,mostly unique one-off pieces. This isa stage in the design process. Just asthe haute couture fashions are thebasis of later production models soalso these works will in turn advancethe design process for crafts. Unlesswe have this creative thinking anddesign progress we cannot hope tokeep in the forefront of thecommercial race for the production ofquality products.

"I thank everyone involved with theorganisation of the exhibition and Ihope that the skill, imagination andinitiative shown by exhibitors here thisevening will long continue to expandand enrich our craft industry."

BURREN IMPACT Photos E F SuttonBelow, Cinninia. Ceramic/embroideryby Grainne Corcoran Watts.

Above, montage. Pastel/fabric/crayonby Lucy Erridge.

Below, Landscape platter byStoneware Jackson.