Craft Council of BC

Celebrating 40 years of investing in makers and
the art they create!

We invite you to join us by attending our
Craft Invested:10,000hrs Conference and the
Gala Fundraiser for the opening of the
Invested/40 Exhibition!  

 

The practitioners of craft and the
objects they produce embody a long-term investment of skill, knowledge,
ingenuity and time. Writer Malcolm Gladwell cites 10,000 hours as a
threshold of proficiency – not an automatic recipe for success and
virtuosity, but a significant down payment on understanding one’s
chosen discipline. As new projects are undertaken, new materials
explored, new mistakes made, absorbed and overcome, the investment
grows into greater vision, capability and commitment.

The
Council believes the idea of investment is extended to many aspects of
the craft community – not only to the makers, but also to our patrons
(who cherish the objects themselves) and supporters (individual,
institutional, government) who assist in other ways. Craftspeople’s work
speaks to those who, while not makers themselves, engage with the
quality and expressiveness of the objects. A patron’s and a society’s
investment celebrates the maker.

 

Craft Invested: 10,000 hrs Conference
Vancouver, October 17th – 20th, 2013 

Thursday Oct 17th, 2013
The
conference starts out with a community session, that brings together
those organizations & institutions that support the craft sector
through the distribution of craft – museum and gallery gift shops, craft
markets, co-ops, and independent retailers. We will explore and
validate our collective contribution to BC’s cultural economy.

Our
continuing partnership with the Vancouver Public Library, has given
rise to a wider community examination of how origin, place &
influence is translated through the medium of craft. This free public
session at the Alice MacKay Room explores how Inuit, First Nations and
contemporary craft artists understand “craft”.

Friday Oct 18th, 2013
Sessions
starting at 9am and going to 5pm explore the many intersections of
craft with literature, cultural migration, function, and social justice,
along with sessions that support the business and art practice for
makers.

For a listing of the artists in the exhibition please click here.

In
the evening we celebrate the opening of – Invested/40 – with a gala
fundraiser at the Pendulum Gallery. The exhibition was curated by Dr.
Sandra Alfoldy and explores the concept “Invested” through the prism of
scale, material, process, form and place – characterizing the range of
crafts being produced in British Columbia and examining why the appeal
of craft continues to grow. The funds raised this evening are for our
youth programming which builds appreciation for, and the future
audience of craft. To purchase a ticket for the fundraiser please go to eventbrite.
Saturday Oct 19th, 2013
Saturday’s
daytime sessions deepen the conversation around how the ‘handmade’
interacts with technology; consumerism; sustainability; identity;
culture creation and culture production, while providing opportunities
for artists to better understand the types of support available for
their art practice.

The Canadian Crafts Federation (CCF/FCMA)
presents an evening conversation featuring Jonathon Bancroft-Snell
(Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery, Ontario), Denis Longchamps (The Rooms
Provincial Gallery, Newfoundland) and Victoria Henry (Canada Council
Art Bank, Ontario), moderated by Dr. Sandra Alfoldy (Nova Scotia
College of Art & Design University, Nova Scotia). They will explore
such questions as – what inspires a collector to invest in Craft, and
what influences their selections; what connects a viewer to a work of
art, and how does one massage this connection from simple admiration or
interest into a purchase and is it more important for the audience to
connect to Craft in a visceral manner, or should insight into the
artists inspiration influence that response? So it should be a very
lively discussion!

Sunday October 20th, 2013