Stoke-on-trent deserves to be a Craft City
ASERENDIPITOUS introduction at the launch of Neil Brownsword’s recent Alchemy and Metamorphosis exhibition set in motion a series of conversations which could lead to Stoke-ontrent being designated a World Crafts Council ‘Craft City’.
While viewing Neil’s latest curated work, which highlighted the technologies, cultural influences and unrealised creative potential of industrial craft practices, as well as bringing questions about endangered, intangible heritage to the fore, I was asked by a representative of the council why Stoke-on-trent hadn’t considered joining the network of creative craft cities.
I quickly established that not only did we satisfy the eligibility criteria, but the foundations were already in place to progress a strong application.
Subsequent discussions with the Crafts Council, Stoke Creates board members, senior leaders at the city council and other stakeholders confirmed that as well as having cultural importance in their own right, valued craft and maker skills can become drivers for the local economy, tourism, placemaking, civic pride and community integration.
Throughout the city of culture bidding process it was proclaimed: ‘We are Stoke-ontent. A city of craft, a city of graft and a city of innovation. A city of collective endeavour. A place for doing and making in new ways.’
As a form of applied creativity, craft is firmly established in the mainstream, a trend driven in part by the popularity of television programmes such as the Great Pottery Throwdown.
A resurgence in hand-making craft processes and ‘made in Stoke-on-trent’ ceramics products and experiences that draw on context and locality is linked to ethical consumerism, a heightened consciousness and commitment to environmental sustainability.
Although the designation process is relatively straightforward, it does beg the question, what is craft and why does it matter?
Our former MP Tristram Hunt, now director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, suggests that it is: a vocation, a tradition, a process, a skill, an ideology, a product, a necessity, a meditation.
Anchored in both tradition and innovation, he also says that craft ‘underpins industry in virtually every sector nationwide: from traditional material and skill to progressive artistic practice; from craft within the digital realm to the wider role of craft in industry’.
Stoke-on-trent’s craft story will always be inextricably linked to the celebration of ceramics, which combine artistic quality
with industrial processes, a commitment to experimentation and an understanding of the fusion of art with science.
Richly evocative of tradition, heritage and cultural identity, it should been seen as more that just a preservation of the past, but a reimagined place story increasingly representative of progressive change.
As a designated WCC Craft City, which also brings a complementary contribution to the Unesco Creative Cities programme, Stoke-on-trent can capitalise on the burgeoning craft and design movement to rediscover the value of ceramics in its many different forms.
Crucially, Craft City status in recognition of Stoke-on-trent’s ceramics-inspired tapestry of craft making and related art forms will help to move the past forward.
As well as capturing the impact on the city’s cultural, social and economic life, it will highlight the growing contribution of contemporary craft makers to high-tech sectors, driving innovation through their knowledge of materials and creative practices.