Neo/Craft exhibition

Traditional knowledge, innovative creations

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Neocraftsmanship combines traditional craftsmanship with modern innovative techniques, the past and the present, the local and the global.

It is characterized by the fusion of raw materials, traditional and modern techniques, as well as, by applying new materials and technologies. These features configure its own identity as an object with aesthetics, functionality and symbolism.

Neocraftsmanship "explores new identities, articulates nature with technology, the rational and the emotional, seeking a balance between ecology and sustainability" (Santos Capa, J. 2020).

The circumstances under which it appears are part of contemporaneity and what it entails: the development of the capitalist system, the study and use of new materials, the interaction between the global and the local, and the problem of sustainability.

This exhibition - winner of Cultural sponsorship 2020 - shows how artisans build the notion of neocraftsmanship through their works, ways of doing and their own words. Likewise, specialists, academics, cultural and technical agents do the same regarding this matter in their speeches, with coincidences, contradictions and complementarities.

Thus, we try to think about this phenomenon according to the heterogeneity that it shows in its configuration, taking into account the current transformations and trends in the artisanal field. And we also ask ourselves, what new changes can we imagine in it based on what we perceive today?

Neocraftsmanship involves the crossing of crafts (traditional, contemporary or urban) with the field of design and technology.

It integrates new concepts of use, utility, technologies, fashions and trends, and current ideas about the environmental crisis.

It shows a modality of collaborative work between artisans, communities of artisans, designers, technicians and other professionals.

Neo-crafts

Is it the fusion between the traditional and the urban?

Is it a phenomenon in process? Or are we facing a consolidated, dynamic and constantly transforming field?

Is it just urban crafts? Does it include traditional crafts and their character of innovation?

Do you contemplate collaborative work? And new materials? What about new technologies?

The craft production process begins with obtaining the materials.

In many cases the natural raw material is inaccessible or in extinction, and artisans must look for alternatives to replace it and thus be able to go on with their livelihood, trade and through it, their culture.

Can we call neocraftsmanship those artworks that fuse a traditional technique (such as basket weaving) with a new material (for example, plastic)?

For UNESCO, crafts and design are strategically associated in which the artisan contributes his ancestral knowledge and techniques, creativity, tradition and excellence, while designers find sources of inspiration for creation and provide visibility to the craft sector.

There is consensus that collaborative work should be carried out by recognizing the artisan's copyright, since he is a necessary participant in the work since he exchanges his knowledge and experiences with the designers.

Design and performance of the artworks are included in the artisan process. Crafts workers express themselves through their manual production, with artistic intentions, cultural identities, concepts of utility with personal stamp. Likewise, those who work in a community transmitting through their skills and manual expertise, their feelings, emotions and worldview of their group of belonging.

Collaborative work involves the participation of other professionals. It implies a separation between design and execution of the work. This modality usually occurs between artisans and designers but also arises between traditional and urban artisans.

Is it possible 3d printing crafts?

In Guillermo Silpituca's work, it can be seen, as in all crafts, the creative imprint, the aesthetic proposal and the sustainability since it incorporates ecological resources in its elaboration. His proposal includes the transformation of the raw material as well as the management and knowledge of the techniques of the ceramics.

While the process maintains all these characteristics, it changes in a dazzling way with the insertion of a printing machine for the object. Is it a neo-craft?

Word bank
Neocraftsmanship
fusion
traditional
contemporary
design
new technology
3D
ancestral
innovation
new materials
sustainability
collaborative work
recycling
ecology
globalization
local
global
emotionality
rationality
nature