Travel diary: Joe Pascoe in Amsterdam

For the final leg of his trip, Craft Vic's CEO & Artistic Director Joe Pascoe jetted off to Amsterdam where he visited Galerie Ra, Droog (we were very envious about this one!), Galerie Louise Smit, Frozen Fountain, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam History Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Anne Frank House and the wonderfully named Wonder Wood.

Joe also met with Paul Derrez from Galerie Ra who gave him a few useful tips:

"Paul was very helpful in suggesting some new galleries and business to visit in Amsterdam, such as Wonder Wood, which specialises in wood products, My visit to Galerie Louis Smit was exciting for the quality of the work and I made some arrangements to liaise further (to promote Craft Victoria members works, and to possibly select work for Craft Cubed HYBRID)."

"The short time in Amsterdam was a useful change from the period spent in the UK, due to the contrast between the countries in terms of craft/design practice.

"The aims of the travel in terms of professional development were realised, with outcomes including establishing some key contacts of ongoing value to Craft Victoria and (personally) gaining a sense of the scope and priority of a wide range on craft organisations, which will help frame Craft Victoria’s future direction.

"It was a very interesting time to visit the UK as the arts sector was just beginning to absorb major funding cuts (15% rising to 30% over 3 years). This has in turn allowed me to appreciate the news reports and feeds I receive via email since returning. The arts are going through a major period of change, which will see a greater emphasis on the ‘offer’ to the public, with greater brand clarity and better use of digital platforms, I believe. "There had been an extensive array of public programming in the arts, with the unintended outcome of diminishing wide-spread relevance (in my opinion). The funding cuts are across government, hence the arts cannot argue a special case. Within this framework, the crafts have a reasonable position due to their ability to tap into heritage trajectories, as does theatre for example, however, the major winners out of the present situation are likely to be the ‘super-museums’ due to their capacity to interface with tourism and contribute to the national brand, and to make money!"

"On reflection, I see Craft Victoria’s point of difference as being its unique connection to makers across Victoria, and to some extent throughout Australia. Craft Victoria’s decision some years ago, to remain committed to a membership base has given it a sense of purpose. What the organisation itself has done, through its Board and staff, has been to bring the members along with them on a journey that has remained highly contemporary, instead of becoming a club. This has given us a unique edge.

"Craft Victoria has therefore stayed linked to the development of craft and design, and today can claim to be an ‘epicentre’ for contemporary craft. The key concept is together we represent the core of the best role that contemporary craft can play in a society, which is to be a positive agent for cultural development. It also happens to be true that craft in Victoria is world class!"

And there you have it! We hope you've enjoyed this little 'travel diary' and fingers crossed we'll have more of the same coming soon later this year.

Welcome little Eleanor Sioux Stuart!

When you work at Craft Victoria it's like being part of a family, so it brings us much joy to happily announce the arrival of our newest intern: Eleanor Sioux Stuart!

The daughter of our Retail Manager Carmel McKie and her partner Sean, little Eleanor was born on Tuesday 11 January (or 11/1/11 for the numerologists out there)

Sean and I were very happy to welcome little Eleanor Sioux Stuart into the world on Tuesday morning. The three of us are doing very very well and are happy to be home getting to know each other. Eleanor is already such a delight, she has been letting us all get lots of sleep and is such a good little eater!

Aww!



Too cute for words.


Congratulations to Carmel and Sean, you've made quite a few biological clocks tick pretty loudly over here!

Travel diary: Joe Pascoe in Scotland

Edinburgh

For the next part of his trip, Joe Pascoe (Craft Vic's CEO & Artistic Director) headed to Edinburgh, Scotland, and went further on to find out about the proposed 'Victoria & Albert at Dundee' ("an outstanding development and an institution to watch" according to Joe!), met with staff from Craft Scotland and took tours of the Scottish Galleries, Dovecot, National Portrait Gallery, Dean Gallery, Edinburgh Castle and Museum on the Mound.

Proposed building for Victoria & Albert Museum at Dundee by Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan)

(Photo credit)

"The time spent with Craft Scotland was very interesting and offered an in depth perspective of the craft scene in Scotland. Craft Scotland itself has about 5 staff and acts primarily as an advocacy body, developing the craft brand in Scotland (and externally). The Scottish craft scene is rich and varied, and well served by a network of cultural officers who work across a broad platform of Scottish culture. Whilst the range is broad in terms of craft practice, the centre of focus tends to be object making. With so much history to call on, craft practice tends to reference heritage as much as contemporary concerns.

"It was invaluable for me to meet an outstanding group of Scottish craftspeople (at the Coburg House facility and elsewhere), and to have the opportunity to gain an understanding of Craft Scotland. For their part, they were very impressed with Craft Victoria and its programs, and the way we function."

Streets of Edinburgh

Joe also visited the Wasps Artists Studios - also known as WASPS (Workshop and Artists' Studio and Provisions Scotland).

"WASPS was an excellent large studio complex that would be worthwhile for craftspeople to approach if they intended to live and work in Glasgow or elsewhere in Scotland for a period of time. WASPS runs over 10 studios across Scotland, ranging from Shetland Islands to larger urban areas such as Glasgow. Most studios would be studio spaces only, and not residential.

"Glasgow is an interesting place, for example it has a Jamie Oliver restaurant on the city square, and run down urban fringes."

Afterwards it was on to the Isle of Bute - by ferry no less!

"The visit to the Isle of Bute was a real treat, especially in terms of engagement with the Scottish landscape. The Isle of Bute is approached by a car ferry, and one of its most famous residents is David Attenborough, which gives some indication of its natural beauty.

"The tour of Mount Stuart was a very special highlight, and offered an insight into the role of craft in terms of its incorporation into heritage buildings. For example, Mount Stuart castle has the first tapestry woven at Dovecot (1912) amongst its extraordinary collections."

"The visit to Craft Town at West Kilbride was very interesting – it had been a town/village on the decline and started to use its old shops as studios, and is now at the stage of renovating a church as an exhibition centre. There are probably about ten crafts people in residence, and the development is slow but steady.

"Most of the makers have very good websites and use the shop/studio as a base for wider business operations. It is coordinated by a part-time director, and once the new exhibition facility opens it should enjoy considerable success, especially as there are few dedicated display spaces for contemporary craft (apparently) in Scotland (or seemingly in the UK)."

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art - featuring neon sign saying 'everything will be alright' by Martin Creed

"My overall impression of the craft scene in Scotland is that craft is seen as a vital component of the Scottish brand. This definition of craft includes traditional making such as baskets, tapestries, silverware and ceramics, in a way we would find very recognisable. Surrounding this nucleus of object based craft you will find music (bagpipes!), fabulous food, outstanding architecture and a highly intelligent literary discourse. Scotland itself is multi-faceted, with many islands, tough mountains and cities and towns with personality.

"As mentioned, the university at Dundee is developing an extraordinary new craft facility, which is due to open in 2014; What it means is a real commitment to the crafts, recognising their centrality in creative culture. The V&A at Dundee will strive for a balance of exhibitions, networking/research and economic development, which is rather like Craft Victoria these days. I can assure you that they watch our website and programs with great interest!"

For his last leg of his trip, Joe travels to Amsterdam - stay tuned for the upcoming and final post!

Travel diary: Joe Pascoe in the UK

In November 2010 Craft Victoria sent Joe Pascoe (CEO & Artistic Director) on a fact finding mission to the UK, Scotland and Amsterdam to look at developments in the craft/design sector and gather new ideas for Craft Victoria.

While in the UK, Joe blazed a trail through various cultural institutions like the British Museum, Foundling Museum, Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Contemporary Applied Arts, Electrum gallery, Wallace Collection, OXO Tower, plus various churches, heritage sites, speciality stores and key streets. Phew! What an itinerary!

"A most interesting place for me to visit was the Tate Modern. The Tate Modern seems to be attracting new audiences, which in some ways mirror the type of audience Craft Victoria receives, which differs from the family-style/tourist audience that visit the other major institutions.

"The Tate Modern's approach seems to be to give you the feeling of engaging with artist debates through the juxta-positioning of artworks by different artists (e.g. Marcel Duchamp and Louise Bourgeois on the theme of genitalia) in the same visual space, so as to make you feel you are part of a rowdy, highly charged argument."

Sculpture of Charles Darwin at the Natural History Museum

"Similar contrasts are set up at the British Museum, with very confident displays of different eras in adjacent halls. The new ‘Cocoon’ at the Natural History Museum is enormously impressive for its use of a giant cocoon/egg form through which you walk – which acts as a metaphor for the role of the museum. The National Gallery continues to be at the forefront of visitor-friendly technology, with sit down areas available to allow the visitor to learn more about the collection."

Greek marble sculpture at the British Museum

Thames River near Tate Modern

London Eye

Ducks on the Serpentine, Hyde Park



Crafts Study Centre, Surrey

"The Craft Study is like a mini research centre, with a collection and display space in a modest but attractive building. It is research orientated and has a visiting program of academics and curators who come to study the various collections, which tend to also include documents as well as objects. Their jewel in the crown is an archive on Bernard Leach.

"Overall I found the arts funding situation to be top of mind with colleagues at the UK Craft Council. The government had just announced a potential cut of up to 30% in various areas of public spending, due to the economy. Major arts organisations were likely to be able to trade their way through such challenges, however middle sized organisations were feeling vulnerable as they didn’t have the grass roots support of locally based organisations.

"The lesson for us is to always stay committed to your base and develop multiple income streams. Also, I believe that arts projects needs to have a start and end date, or else they just accumulate and develop snowballing agendas that gradually lose their relevance. In Britain this becomes a problem due to the relatively widely differently held views of the main political parties, though it still happens here, though to a lesser degree. In Australia we seem to revere the emerging artists, while in the UK heritage (including in the crafts) is a huge influence."

Next stop: Scotland!

Playing Field seminar + Craft on Foot podcast

A couple of Sundays ago we held a Playing Field seminar at the NGV: Ian Potter Centre at Federation Square. Presenting speakers were Michael Doolan, Craft Victoria's Super Maker and Playing Field exhibitor, Soumitri Varadarajan, Associate Professor of Industrial Design, RMIT, and chaired by Harriet Edquist, Director, RMIT Design Archives and Professor of Architectural History.

Speaking of speaking about craft and design, have you checked out our Craft on Foot podcast as recorded by the awesome Kate Rhodes? It's a series of conversations with Craft Victoria supporters, artists, staff including Anna Davern, Suzie Attiwill, Kim Brockett, Tim Fleming, Robyn Healy, Kevin Murray and Joe Pascoe.

You can download the podcast and listen to it by clicking here. Or better yet, you can put it on your iPod and listen to it on the go!


Photography: Lily Feng

SUPER MARKET, this Sat at Gertrude from 11am-4pm

Craft Victoria's Kim Brockett has put together a one-off event called SUPER MARKET that's happening this Saturday, and we want you to make your way there!

Gathering 20 artists, collectives and collaborations, SUPER MARKET features a few familiar names to Craft Victoria like Adam Cruickshank and Dell Stewart (who both had exhibitions at CV this year) and Kay Abude (who was in Fresh! 2007 with an installation titled, funnily enough, Supermarket).

It also features a whole bunch of other fantastic people like Damp, Greatest Hits, Hotham Street Ladies, Moop Jaw (Antuong Nguyen & Warran Wright - who will be showing work in a Craft Vic/Craft Cubed satellite exhibition in Aug!), The Telepathy Project plus many, many more names!



Don't worry if you're low on funds, SUPER MARKET is an exchange/barter based event so leave your wallets at home and bring your best haggling skills!

Current bargains include: sharehouse conflict resolution advice, three minutes of telepathic sex, 2min shadow cuttings, tattoos, a 5 year photograph-exchange contract, cookies for conversation, Ralph Lauren and heaps more.

For a full list of propositions and artist information, check out the blog: www.gertrudesupermarket.blogspot.com


See you there!!

Anita Cummins in Inside Out magazine!

The latest edition of Inside Out (with a glorious cover by UK paper-based artist Rob Ryan) features some delightful pom poms by one very lovely Anita Cummins! Anita is assistant retail manager here at CVHQ, and her work is stocked right here at COUNTER.

If you'd like to get your paws on you can get order in one (or two, or five) of her pom pom necklaces. Just make sure you give us a call first! We also hear that Anita's autumn-perfect machine-knitted scarves will be reappearing at COUNTER very soon, so make sure you keep an eye out.

Craft to Consumer: Mon 19 April

Craft to Consumer is back!

Presented by Craft Victoria staff Carmel McKie (COUNTER Retail Manager), and Pip Carroll (Market Development Coordinator), and Kim Brockett (Craft Hatch Market Coordinator), this edition of Craft to Consumer is all about retail opportunities.

Focusing on three main areas - retailers, online avenues and markets - this event is an excellent stepping stone on the ABC's of getting started and getting your work out there.

Bookings for Craft to Consumer have just opened, but be quick as places are filling quickly! This event will take place on Monday 19 April from 6-8pm at Craft Victoria. It costs $20 for non-members and $10 for Craft Victoria members.

To attend, please call us on 9650 7775.

Dani M: FIX UP LOOK SHARP

To kick off our 2010 enCOUNTER window program is FIX UP LOOK SHARP by our very own CVHQ darling, Dani Maugeri of Dani M Designs. Inspired by a recent visit to the Melbourne Museums' rocks and minerals collection, Dani's exhibition of porcelain shards, faceted balls and clustered chips is a continuation of an earlier collection entitled 'Crystal Visions'.

The title of Dani's exhibition comes from Dizzee Rascal's 2003 hit of the same name... by the way, Dizzee's in town for the week! He's playing a show at the Forum (which is just down the road from us) on Thursday evening. How awesome would it be if he thought, "Hey, I wonder where I can check out the best contemporary craft and design in Melbourne. Oh hang on, Craft Victoria's just up the road." and then he wanders by and see Dani's exhibition. Totally amazing, that's what it would be!

Make sure you check out Dani's exhibition in enCOUNTER which is open all day every day. FIX UP LOOK SHARP is on until 31 Jan - which is next week, so get in quick!

Thanks to the lovely Dani M for the great photos in this post!

Oh Liz! The places you'll go...

It's been a day of favourites with one of our favouritest bloggers in the world, Lucy Feagins of The Design Files, posted this lovely write-up on our very dear Liz Wilson, one-time shopgirl/photographer at Craft Victoria and current design wunderkind currently employed at one of our favourite design agencies Ortolan (home of Michi Girl and the beautiful Kat Macleod). Oh man, we knew we shouldn't have let her go!!! (just kidding, we are so over the moon at all the great things Liz is achieving)

We couldn't be more excited to read all the lovely comments Lucy's readers have been posting about Liz's work - congratulations Liz! And thank you as well to Lucy for linking to Liz's interview with CLOG a while back - visitation numbers literally swelled to new heights. Thanks Lucy!

To remember the good times, click here to read Liz's interview with us. Don't forget to check out Lucy's post too while you're at it!

What's even more amazing is Liz's recent foray into ceramics. Have a look-see for yourself:

Images from Liz's blog

At the risk of sounding like an eastern suburb lady, can we just say that these works are simply gorgeous dahh-ling!

For more of Liz, have a peek at her blog 'The Things She Sees' - it's a wonderful collection of inspiring photos, things and projects.

Christmas breakfast + happy birthday Anita + see you soon Steph

In the rush of the last days of 2009, these images of happy staff celebrating (not as rare as you might think) were left by the wayside. So it is with great pleasure that we present to you a selection of images from these events: the staff Christmas breakfast at our next door neighbour Cumulus; 'see you soon, it's not goodbye' cake for Steph who recently left the Craft Victoria family to tend to her own family (and not to mention preparing for the impending arrival of a little certain someone! who should be arriving any day now!); 'happy birthday' cake and champagne for Anita; and even more champagne to celebrate the last day of work in 2009.

The Craft Victoria men: (L-R) Trevor our accountant, Erik our installation genius and Joe our leader

We'd also like to formally welcome Milly into the Craft Victoria fold. Milly has joined Craft Victoria as a smiley Saturday shop girl. Milly's face is no stranger to CVHQ, what with her being Steph's near-identical twin, and we couldn't be happier to welcome Milly! It's kind of like still having Steph here... but better. Haha! Just kidding! We love both of you equally!

Milly also stocks her lovely jewellery here at COUNTER, so make sure you come have a peek. She also has a great blog called 'One Small Day' - check it out here.

L-R: Joe our leader, Anika our graphic designer, Pip our New Craft lady and Nella our curator (pictured with her KK gift)

And now for some photos of the delicious FOOD!!!

Creamiest soy chai latte made with pre-safety scare Bonsoy

Fried egg, avocado, bacon, tomato whitebread sandwich with generous dollop of aioli

Baked eggs with dukka and spices, accompanied by thick slabs of buttered toast

60/60 egg with smoked salmon, capers, rocket and julienned green apple

It was such a delicious breakfast, thank you very much to our pals at Cumulus for putting on such a scrumptious feast for us!

On the last day of work, all of us got together for some cake and champagne to bid lovely Steph farewell and to wish Anita the happiest of birthdays.

Thank you for all your great work over the past few years Steph! We will miss you terribly (only time will help heal the pain) and we can't wait to see you soon... but most of all, we can't wait to see junior!!