ARTH 380: Histories of Art History: Craft Theory and Discourse

François is a performance maker whose choreographies mix low-fi digital media, soft and hard objects, clowning and improvisation within an interdisciplinary space difficult to categorize. His works, while flirting with slowness and absurdity, remain in the nebulous narrative territory of the enigma.

Glenn Adamson opens Thinking Through Craft (2007) by asking ‘‘isn’t craft something mastered in the hands, not in the mind? Something consisting of physical actions, rather than abstract ideas?’’ Anchoring craft in materiality, Adamson’s questions echo observations made by Sôetsy Yanagi, who claimed that beautifully crafted objects were made to be used and handled – in turn locating the beauty of craft in purpose (1927). Following Adamson’s and Yanagi’s writings, Glasses to peak into my own Childhood (to be activated in performance) mobilizes craft’s boundedness to materiality and usefulness, transporting these ideas into the realm of performance. A pair of thrifted glasses has been covered in a hand-stitched layer of fabric. The object’s actual purpose disappears behind a new, imaginary use – meant to enable the writing of improvisation scores in performance. The objects’ crafted qualities thus foreground the relation between materiality, imagination and play.

These paper quilt squares were made by students during a guest lecture by Elora Crawford on the topic of craft education. Students learned (and taught each other) how to carefully fold pieces of paper: once an important stepping stone in the education of Kindergarten teachers in Canada. In doing so, they were asked to think about who teaches craft, where craft is taught, and the relationship between thinking and making that occurs during all forms of craftmaking.

Elora Crawford (she/her) is an educator, artist, and scholar based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Her graduate research at Concordia University explores the art history of Kindergarten and the pedagogy of play. Central to this work is her scholarship of 19th-century playthings and art activities—the “Gifts and Occupations”—introduced to education by the founder of Kindergarten, Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852). These materials for learning through play are explored in workshops, gift play interviews, archival study, and artmaking. Her artistic practice unfolds across parquetry, paper-folding, weaving, and sculptural installation.

Sara Howie is a film and television worker living in Montreal. She was previously a research fellow in Broken City Lab, and also volunteers as an external labour organizer. She is currently completing her art history degree at Concordia, with ambitions to teach in the arts. She is a self-taught sewist, and her interest in labour and textile arts helps inform her practice as an art historian.

In my final project, I explore the tensions between globalization and craft within the apparel industry, focusing specifically on the manufacture of denim jeans. As an avid sewist, I began making my own clothing in 2018 out of frustration with declining garment quality and ethical concerns surrounding overseas labour practices. My practice is driven by a desire to dress expressively and affordably while maintaining ethical integrity—creating maximalist, eclectic pieces that fill gaps in my wardrobe without contributing to exploitative systems. Through this project, I interrogate the inherent disconnect between denim’s cultural symbolism and the often-obscured realities of its production. By sewing a pair of jeans, I engage with the material and labour histories embedded in this ubiquitous garment, questioning what it means to participate in—or resist—globalized fashion economies.

Rebekah Walker (she/they) is an artist and art historian with a BFA in Art History from Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). Interested in craft theory and discourse as a contemporary form of political action and radical care, much of their research includes their textile art practice.

Montreal Crazy Quilt, was made of fabrics offered to me by my friends. The goal of the quilt was to stitch together pieces of all of my loved ones, resulting in a tapestry that reflects them all individually as well as the circumstances that brought them together. The technical inspiration for the project came from the McCord Museum Crazy Quilt. The “crazy quilt” uses scraps and revolted against the prim and proper societal expectations during the late 18th century. I used the process of quilting to add sentimental and symbolic community value into items that otherwise held little value. I also aspired to engage with the slow process of making, in order to identify my labour as a craftsperson and determine what purpose this process presented.