We are currently living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where technology is all-encompassing and unavoidable. Most of the art we see these days is online, and artists must contend with the fear that their work may be used to train AI or shared without their consent. These problems beg the question of what art will look like in the future. If the internet contains infinite images, what makes one picture special? How does art separate itself from everything else we mindlessly consume?
One answer may lay in craft, in physical works that are made by hand. Art should be a reminder of our humanness, of the ancient and enduring power of individual creativity. In a time when our hands are primarily used for typing or tapping a phone screen, craft carries the memory of other, older ways of existing, that might offer solace in the hectic modern world. Craft has a myriad of forms, and functions; it can be an artwork or useful object, something you buy from a local maker or a skill you learn yourself. Whilst the ‘art world’ might sound obscure and elitist, craft highlights another kind of art world that can exist and flourish between networks of ordinary people.
Scotland has an incredibly rich crafting history, from tartan and tweed weaving to Fair Isle knitting, Orkney chair making, silversmithing, leatherwork, lacemaking and bookbinding. These crafts make up the fabric of Scotland’s unique cultural heritage, although the number of makers who safeguard these traditions are dwindling with every generation.
Historically, the Scottish Arts and Crafts Movement emerged in the 1880s as a reaction against the Industrial Revolution and the mass production of goods. Artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Macdonald sisters pioneered the internationally known ‘Glasgow style’, creating ornate metalwork, furniture, and stained glass amongst other crafts, infused with a Celtic sensibility. In Edinburgh, Phoebe Anna Traquair produced murals, embroidery, and manuscript illuminations, reflecting the colours and intensity of Scotland’s wild beauty. These artists used craft to create powerfully resonant works, fusing the spirit of the country with its material history.
More than a century later, a similar zeitgeist has begun to take shape. A quick walk around ECA reveals an impulse to skill-up amongst students. As recent innovations in AI highlight the precarity of sharing any image online, what better time for a second Arts and Crafts Movement, that revives heritage skills and protects the autonomy of makers? Academia has also turned away from the old hierarchies that relegate craft beneath the Fine Arts or look down on textiles as ‘women’s work’. Art, unlike other disciplines, does not need to submit to the demands of keeping up with technological progress. It can do something else altogether. In the digitised future, the intimacy and unrepeatability of human touch will become the new premium.
So how can you participate in the regenesis of Scottish craft? To begin with, you can see it. Traquair’s dazzling tapestries are on display in the Scottish section of the National Gallery. There are also numerous arts and crafts fairs taking place throughout the city this Winter, such as the Makers Market at the Fruitmarket Gallery, that provide an alternative to Christmas shopping on the Highstreet. Choosing to invest in craft is a meaningful way to support individual makers over large industries and preserve the heritage sector.
Perhaps the most exciting way to revive Scottish craft is to create something with your own hands. There are a plethora of knitting, bookbinding, and lacemaking groups that meet weekly in Edinburgh, often free of charge. For artists wishing to deepen their knowledge of a traditional craft, organisations like the King’s Foundation run a variety of specialist courses.
Even better still, if you’re lucky enough to have a friend or family member who knows a craft, why not ask them to teach you? The fruits of your labour may be an intricate work of art, or a slightly wonky scarf – both are precious in their own way (one of the best gifts I have ever received is a crochet scarf made by my boyfriend.)
The key point is that it brings you back to Scottish heritage and the enduring though sometimes forgotten art of handicraft.
Photo by Henrik Hjortshøj on Unsplash