![[Attachments/ddb7c9d6ea84825b6ed752fddd3ebc37_MD5.jpg]] Nanshoso garden and residence in Morioka city, Iwate, Japan. --- Dear consortium members, Knowledge House for Craft’s friends and advocates! This is our eighth newsletter: the roving editors of this issue greet you, and hope the following offerings meet your interest. The Knowledge House has grown from an informal gathering to an active knowledge-building and sharing platform, with a [board](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FAbout/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_j3jkdN9J/_eOTJRUZSLPx0EhC96pDd3UPl-mXBnuEV6zJf1nWR04), a growing network of [member associations](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FAbout/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_j3jkdN9J/_eOTJRUZSLPx0EhC96pDd3UPl-mXBnuEV6zJf1nWR04), and consortium participants. Our [manifesto](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FProjects%252FManifesto/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_wRoWxJRa/prYiTus9cjq3lGfIN1zTwftGOxVE81vNWv8um-V-lh4) has guided our activities to date. The [vault](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252F/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_b3DbDjVg/ErK_IMtqpMqkmj3Ccsxrbkq4uhVdB8jCVwr1dzs3ZFU) is a place where a dynamic group of volunteers store articles related to craft and provide House guests with a summary of its key points. We are very happy to welcome our first *individual* members to the House: Joseph Ndione, Linda S. McIntosh & Jacky Cheng. **[Joseph Ndione](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FWeft%252FAuthors%252FJoseph%252BNdione/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_A3KXv694/REGqnyiFBUwpGgKb8eyv970ivoSjKvwM89be-QNbuZI)** is a lecturer in Design Thinking and UX Design at the Virtual University of Senegal, specializing in the One Village One Product model of rural development. **[Linda S. McIntosh](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FWeft%252FAuthors%252FLinda%252BS%252BMcIntosh/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_eRmWxP9L/gtXc4myQG0pMz3nfvdCF0Vyqgt55_4OaQ5xweUVLwCs)**, researcher, curator, and contributing editor to *Textiles Asia*, specializes in Southeast Asian textile culture. She has authored publications such as *Art of Southeast Asian Textiles: The Tilleke and Gibbins Collection* and recently redesigned the Xieng Khouang Museum in Laos. **[Jacky Cheng](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FWeft%252FMembers%252FJacky%252BCheng/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_PVgjz29N/BE0MFpF2wSnvc_BEUTLwmoNz-_PiCK-nRxQBmL0JrhA)** is a second-generation Malaysian-Chinese artist, facilitator and educator currently based in Yawuru Country, Broome, WA since 2006. As we pen this note of welcome, our mind turns to the space we welcome you in and the house rules that govern it. Letting the past four years of communal work define the space we are in, most of the time virtually, we like to refer to it as a “verandah” (or a “porch”, if you are from the Northern hemisphere): a place of temporary rest and discussion between humans who chose to meet there and consider the multiple ways craft exists in this world. The conversations are as rich as the members make them, and we are excited about this increased constituency, and look forward to seeing the House enriched by their thinking and doing in the newly set-up [Discord platform](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fdiscord.gg%252FezfyzZGyND/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_8VrZQDVw/gOTtbzsmlP_vw4WmV83M7EaS0yPUBmFtSwI3fVg8YJo). Since our members have been particularly busy over the last few months, this eighth newsletter will, exceptionally, showcase their activities prominently. Best regards from the roving editorial team, Liliana Morais & Ben Lignel --- ### New to our Vault [Recent additions - Knowledge House for Craft](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FRecent%252Badditions/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_83kdrD9J/_ikv8clCPdbuDciyX62zg2EhXwzllslEHHO86OifNSc) ![[Attachments/23edaf9a8f6a78a707b1e9b534ae054d_MD5.jpg]] **Value of Craft Report** For the past five years, a team of craft experts at **the Knowledge House for Craft** has been processing more than 270 references about the value of craft in our world today. The goal has been to produce a comprehensive picture of the contribution craft makes to our practical, symbolic and ethical values. This process of “knowledge weaving” uses new information technologies to produce a complex web of claims for the value of craft. For the first time, we have the opportunity to appreciate the critical presence of craft in our lives. We see how craft is critical to our survival across many dimensions: making things improves our well-being, particularly after trauma; it sustains communities through displacement; and it is core to our sense of being human, in the face of artificial intelligence. (Kevin Murray) For more information and to download the report, go here: [https://knowledgehouseforcraft.org/Weft/Value+of+Craft/Value+of+Craft+Report+1.0](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fknowledgehouseforcraft.org%252FWeft%252FValue%252Bof%252BCraft%252FValue%252Bof%252BCraft%252BReport%252B1.0/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_q3BxJqVn/DKbge0VmYfxNVZl-WdSNr693JG0Ls_Iswjm-RW7tztg) ### Suggested readings/ films/ exhibitions **Recommended  publications** \*\*\*[Toward a Minor Architecture](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.com%252FToward-Minor-Architecture-Jill-Stoner-ebook%252Fdp%252FB08BT4R92R%252Fref%253Dsr_1_1%253Fcrid%253D2JI25JJDPGLM6%2526dib%253DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.y190nRRUm3OTgOXwNXs28A.SgmHufnIubvRxQcBM0y4T-f6R-4zmqX8eFRVeq3roAo%2526dib_tag%253Dse%2526keywords%253Dtoward%252Ba%252Bminor%252Barchitecture%2526qid%253D1731642124%2526sprefix%253Dtow%25252Caps%25252C7291%2526sr%253D8-1/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_oRxoDrVA/yZ4U20qpD5FxaCxVVm8XLWp24_vkUOnpJRB3YfyjskI) \*\*\***by Jill Stoner (2012)** The book takes its name from one of the most significant architectural texts of the twentieth century, Le Corbusier’s *[Towards an Architecture](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.com%252FToward-Architecture-Texts-Documents-Corbusier%252Fdp%252F0892368225%252Fref%253Dsr_1_1%253Fcrid%253D1HZSJ0HIUZ3ZG%2526dib%253DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CmoGExsrA17ZIJxet4QdXrgfIk70xAaop_CC-8nIupaoYrNPOm8XkLrM765lI3hSTrpWr7dv5BU_ZgShCWLfsjAcDWIgSB-NQbY2zA5TWi67Mw06nkl-IZG21Bsty-KBmJK3DpbiPhPxjKcBrrAsyrd4lgLphbOWe6Yhe0u8u9uYWI3W7Nq4N8F4w8bhr8j1MAiRPcBAb5usPanTeBPmdayVlFtfu89J6LWL-26mQBo.J0CjM786smPIDq8lsGknyn3GG3ZxFVdRcsivI_IbcRo%2526dib_tag%253Dse%2526keywords%253Dtoward%252Ban%252Barchitecture%2526qid%253D1731642663%2526sprefix%253Dtoward%252Ba%252Bminor%252Barchitecture%25252Caps%25252C4178%2526sr%253D8-1/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_LV2GE5RK/DJCout8HJmIhBSXv10ETi8ghZ5e7UjwZ9jPpBj1woJA)* a.k.a *[Towards a New Architecture](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Farchive.org%252Fdetails%252FTowardsANewArchitectureCorbusierLe/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_WVA8YD9q/nHCliU5i-XXAhM5PH35jMOVkWYfzhmbRkKFlnrTet1o)* & sets out to challenge & confront modernism’s grand themes contained within, by taking stock of & working with the extant built environment, from the bottom-up & in the margins between. I became aware of this book through an essay by Jessica Hemmings, ‘[Toward a Minor Textile Architecture](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.academia.edu%252F124475503%252F_Towards_a_Minor_Textile_Architecture_/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_kVP6pe38/oo4wkmV2aKureFKPVZEZEePBdccIoXgwsET0rped6ZE)’, in which the work of contemporary textile artists who explore architectural themes is considered, including: the impact of bank foreclosures in Kathryn Clark’s quilts; Loren Schwerd’s ovingreuse of hair as a weaving material in the wake of a natural disaster; &, the repurposing of cladding from childhood interiors by Igshaan Adams - a fascinating read. (Peta Carlin) **Recommended essay** ***[Intangible Heritage - A Challenge to the Authorized Heritage Discourse](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.fr%252Fscholar%253Fcluster%253D14314922796474943943%2526hl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%252C5%2526as_vis%253D1/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_KRXrd59N/u8SBv56-Q0h9Ms0fCDIiNEQ2C6W09l4zVDcf9hF5w4o)\*\****, by Laurajane Smith (2015)\*\* Laurajane Smith’s critical survey of current debates around the definition of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) discusses the introduction of the 2003 Unesco convention to protect intangible heritage, and provides a brilliant synthesis of the problems that a shift from protecting objects to protecting living practices raises for the conservation world.  The author points to tensions between the scale at which craft work takes place (at local, community level) and the scale at which such protection claims are made (national level). The text continues to be useful to dig into issues of  sovereignty, expertise, governance, community, margin and center, and tourism as heritage work - to name just a few.  (Ben Lignel) ***[Anti-Zoom](https://app.keila.io/c/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.bruno-latour.fr%252Fsites%252Fdefault%252Ffiles%252FP-170-ELIASSON-GBpdf.pdf/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_Q3LLZM3Z/imhYJJjwQ2wMghERNzGkd9qjHZjGaJeSZlnmK1KbKB8)*****(2017) by Bruno Latour** As a companion piece to the above, the fearless reader may be moved to read Bruno Latour’s*[Anti-Zoom](https://app.keila.io/c/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.bruno-latour.fr%252Fsites%252Fdefault%252Ffiles%252FP-170-ELIASSON-GBpdf.pdf/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_Q3LLZM3Z/imhYJJjwQ2wMghERNzGkd9qjHZjGaJeSZlnmK1KbKB8)* (2017), a somewhat enigmatic publication by the French anthropologist, which argues against the scalability of data interpretation. Against scientific practice that uses data across different scales, Latour suggests that “The ‘long’ narrative does not contain the ‘shorter’ one at all: it instead reiterates all the elements differently, to the point of constituting an entirely new story.” We feel that his proposition could be useful to inform a conversation about the “field” of craft, and to acknowledge the different, perhaps irreconcilable scales at which it is taking place. (Ben Lignel) **Recommended Film** **[OVALES / Fès, Maroc, 2008 by Baptiste Buob](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fvimeo.com%252F75956526/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_jRvKrK3a/lU0maoK1hqsvuFN4Ny2KuO35H3WhEXGmWWskcpMN5qk)** **Baptiste Buob** is a French researcher with a double background in anthropology and filmmaking. He has been conducting his research through filming, and advocates for the integration of camera work as part of ethnographic enquiries. His work has focused on collective modes of craft production: three films on metalwork in Fez (Morocco) in 2009 were followed by a series of films on luthiers (2010-13). “[Ovals](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fvimeo.com%252F75956526/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_jRvKrK3a/lU0maoK1hqsvuFN4Ny2KuO35H3WhEXGmWWskcpMN5qk)” is part of his Men and objects in the Fez brassware series.  The 80” film tracks  a networked system of skill-specific workshops, connected by moving bodies (children, donkeys) that together constitute an expanded craft-adjacent factory line. The documentary shows the iterative transformation of a “thing” into an “object”, the final version of which has erased all traces of the myriad steps that brought it to life. Unusually for a film in the process genre, this one takes its time, and the film-maker’s deft camera work pays tribute to haptic knowledge at very close range. Craft advocates will appreciate the questions it raises about the representation of toil, and the viewer’s vicarious complicity in what appears as an exploitative system. (Ben Lignel) **Recommended exhibition** The **[Serendipity Arts Festival](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.serendipityartsfestival.com%252F/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_E3N6by3d/TSqosOfVbgSAX1gOAiPxhxk7C8OkFvQF290JSP7stZQ)** is set to take place from 15-22 December in Goa. Spanning the visual, performing and culinary arts, the Festival’s programming includes music, dance, visual arts, craft, photography, film, and theatre. It is free and open to all (Kaamya Sharma). ### Opportunities for the network **Open Call for an Artist-in-Residence in a town in rural Japan** The ShiroOni Artist-in-Residence was founded in 2013 by American artist Kjell Hahn in the rural town of Onishi, in Gunma prefecture, about 100 km from Tokyo. The artist studios are set in reclaimed houses scattered around the town, allowing artists to engage with the landscape, history, and people while developing their own work. Although the program has two specific sessions especially dedicated to ceramics (Spring and Fall), during which participants have the opportunity to fire a Japanese-style wood-fueled *anagama* kiln, the program also accepts artists working with all types of media during their other two sessions held in the summer (during which participants can either partake in the town’s traditional music festival or exhibit their works in the contemporary Kanna Art Festival). See the website for more information: [Artist Application – Shiro Oni Studio](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fshirooni.com%252Fcontact%252Fapplication-artist%252F%253Fv%253D24d22e03afb2/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_PR8mzX3E/Z-7tUDNDLCIh-U2IVUhKbnH-Wcc6gJHpkSRPd1upfeI) The Canadian-based **Craft History Workshop**’s last **[call for papers](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fcrafthistoryworkshop.com/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_WVnWExRN/JRCU6MJ5ZXZlMAO-x5Q2cFBStQu5ewg6RGSJ2-9_jfE)** proposes to examine craft outside of its dialectical relationship with mechanized production, and to tend instead to the many ways in which craft permeates our manufacturing present - a view which aligns with the KHC’s broader view of craft. We very much look forward to seeing what they release next! “Even during the rise of the mass-produced modern world, craft remained integrated in industrial capitalism, not as its “other” but (as Raphael Samuel famously showed) part of its development and operation.“ **Submission deadline: January 31st, 2025** ### Activities from the network members **Craftvoice exhibition held at the International Conference for Asian scholars (ICAS) in Surabaya  this past July 2024** In an effort to deepen our engagement with one another as board members of the KHC and to extend our conversations to a wider audience, several members of the KHC Board traveled in July to the Indonesian city of Surabaya to participate in the International Conference for Asian scholars (ICAS), an academic ConFest ([https://icas13.eventscribe.net/](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Ficas13.eventscribe.net%252F/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_NVekKq3w/PT1kRkL6kPKUKnMrqpb-NP7cASesjV4dLRKSfM64LSA)). KHC members participated in several events organized under the Humanities Across Borders program (HAB) most notably our first in-person, public roundtable to share the KHC network’s objectives and projects, especially KHC’s dynamic repository of vernacular terms pertaining to “craft’ in different languages and a joint exhibition titled Craft Voice, curated by KHC board member, Sharon Tsang de Lyster (weblink on KHC website) with contributions from many members of the board (see poster). (Aarti Kawlra) ***9 Lessons of Design Empowerment*****by Lokesh Ghai published in [The Routledge Handbook of Craft and Sustainability in India](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.routledge.com%252FThe-Routledge-Handbook-of-Craft-and-Sustainability-in-India%252FReubens-Kachru%252Fp%252Fbook%252F9780367757489%253Fsource%253Dshoppingads%2526locale%253Den-GBP%2526gad_source%253D1%2526gclid%253DCj0KCQiA_9u5BhCUARIsABbMSPubkl2USCXBajGA2cKBGEoHXQtngeBnFurbm3MQ4sV1aQab6TLzXswaAqOLEALw_wcB/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_oRM6KG3g/8URIWSnw8Oe8RwYYv0MS5fI0KXsEO2lqo31o4oQdU04) edited by Rebecca Reubens and Tanishka Kachru (2025)** The Routledge Handbook of Craft and Sustainability in India is a comprehensive read with contributions from policymakers, historians, educators, revivalists, activists, and market stakeholders. The chapters combine rich topics from Gandhi to the effect of COVID-19 on craft and question the future—case studies and direct quotes from artisans in various chapters highlight the depth of the work. Given the discourse on sustainability, this book addresses a major gap in the scholarship in the Indian context and beyond. (LOkesh Gai) ***Flows and Crossing Zones: Counter Narratives, Experimental Imaging and New Media Environments in Transcultural Art and Visual Practice*****by Patricia Jean Flanagan and Georgia Wallace Crabbe published in *T[he Nomadic Image: explorations at the intersections of art, science, and culture](https://app.keila.io/c/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.com%252Fdp%252FB0DJGH6Q76/nmr_4mvv6X58/ntl_y9zdr4RL/Bgc_tKcQmjVAcIvIetGPR_aulj94LtmM1w_780c2ioU)*, edited by Michael Garbutt and Soheil Ashrafi (2024)** The papers in this volume were originally presented at The Nomadic Image, the seventh edition of the Transdisciplinary Imaging Conference series, held at the University of Central Asia’s Naryn campus. The theme of nomadism was well suited to the conference location in Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian republic where equestrian nomadism remains a powerful culture signifier. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the nomad pursues pure lines of flight across smooth, continually shifting spaces that stand in opposition to the striated, enclosed world of the settled state. We invite the reader to explore the pure lines of intellectual flight pursued by the scholars and creative practitioners whose diverse and provocative papers appear in this volume, offering stimulating contrasts and unexpected connections. ---