Crossing Boundaries

Collapsing the boundaries between craft, art and architecture; collapsing the boundaries between nations.

Fragmentos (COLOMBIA, Bogotá) ( Available at:https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/919532/fragmentos-nil-contra-monumento-granada-garces-arquitectos (Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Fragmentos (COLOMBIA, Bogotá) ( Available at:https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/919532/fragmentos-nil-contra-monumento-granada-garces-arquitectos (Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Craft has become more important than ever, with makers using their hands to shape solutions for the challenges of our times.

Craft is a chameleon word. It is both verb and noun. It's applied to everything from one-of-a-kind handcrafted items to mass-produced industrial goods. Craft is a moving target. Like its cousins art and design, craft is a cultural bulding that evolves in response to changing mindsets and conditions of society.'''

As Peter Korn remind us in his book Why we make things and Why it matters, the concept of craft as we know is a recent invention . Weavers and potters in the Middle Ages, woodworkers and goldsmiths during Renaissance; cabinet makers employed by Louis XV in the Age of Enlightment -none of them thought of their work as a craft. The current notion of craft, whether as a form of production or a type of object, was originated with the Arts & Crafts movement in Britain, 130 years ago. Prior this movement, the English word craft was used predominantly to indicate a capacity for sharpness and manipulation.

We could understand craft as a dialogue flowing through time, as a recent swirl in a broad dialogue about object-making that began at least 2.5 million years ago, when our hominid ancestors were making tools. Since then, the making of tools and objects has progressed to increasingly effective techniques. This flow of information through millenia is the dialogue of object making. Human beings participate in it every time we make an object and everytime we interact with one. This dialogue will no doubt continue throughly, for we an object-making species, an Homo Faber.

This exhibition talks about the craft, the handmaking and the hand as the primary tool through which we interact with the world, the primary tool with which we shape it and maybe even the primary tool through which we understand it.

Fragmentos (COLOMBIA, Bogotá) ( Available at:https://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/919532/fragmentos-nil-contra-monumento-granada-garces-arquitectos (Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Where will the exhibition be...

Fragmentos, Bogotá. CO

Colombia signed a historic peace agreement in 2016 to end 50 years of war and violence. In this agreement it was decided that the FARC weapons would be melted down to make a work of art or a Contramonumento (anti-monument), as Doris Salcedo called it.

Fragmentos (Fragments) is a space built for the memories of the armed conflict. If a conventional monument is usually a piece “that we should all look up to”, Doris Salcedo proposes that this not happen with weapons, since Fragmentos stands as “a contramonumento that represents emptiness and absence”. Conceived by the artist and made with the collaboration of women victims of the armed conflict, Fragmentos is made up of three connected spaces on a large surface of cast metal from the weapons delivered by the former FARC guerrilla. The space preserves in its center a large ruin corresponding to a colonial house, temporarily placing the history of La Violencia.

Who is the exhibition for...

It is for tourists to Bogotá, for the local citizens and for Colombians in general. For those that have suffered and lived an ongoing conflict in their territory; for those that have lived social displacements; for those that have made a living through craft; for those that wonder why we make things and why it matters.

1. The Folding Fan

The folding fan's origin is Japan and it was developed in the early Nara period (710-794). At that time, fans were used not to create wind by fanning but as a tool for writing letters, like a memo or notebook, and were used to note the order of rituals and ceremonies.

京扇子について | 京都｜投扇興｜絵付け体験｜京扇子の販売 - 扇や 半げしょう (no date). Available at: https://hangesho.com/shop2/user_data/kyosensu.phpA (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

2. Kaza

A subtle fragrance wafts through the air when you fan a Kyoto fan. Thinly processed bamboo for fans has excellent fragrance retention properties and keeps its fragrance for a long time.

The design on the stick and the uniquely Japanese fragrance will add colour to the room.

This reed stick has a fan bone that takes advantage of the characteristics of bamboo. It absorbs the fragrance and releases it into the open air.

大西常商店 かざぷちルームフレグランス　-翠- インテリア Factory Express Japan (no date). Available at: https://factory-express-jp.co.jp/fs/factoryexpress/2202200232016 (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

3. Kyo_Uchiwa

The origins of the fan are ancient, and it is said to have already existed in China during the Zhou dynasty (3rd century BCE).

Uchiwa fans are also depicted on the walls of the cemetery of Egypt's Ramses II during the same period, and it is believed that they were introduced from China to Egypt.

Since ancient times, uchiwa fans have been used not only to keep cool but also to cover the faces of nobles and women at festivals and other occasions.

In a wide area, including Southeast Asia and West Asia, uchiwa fans have been used to drive away insects and ward off evil spirits.

京うちわの歴史 | 京うちわ 阿以波 (no date). Available at: https://www.kyo-aiba.jp/about/detail.html?id=6 (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

It is thought that the uchiwa was introduced to Japan around the 6th or 7th century, and the style of covering the face with an uchiwa was imitated by court ladies in Japan.

A mural painting in the Takamatsuzuka burial mound from the Asuka period depicts a figure holding an uchiwa.

Today's uchiwa has its roots in

Chinese moon fan: A single bamboo split into small pieces with the handle left intact, spread out in a radial pattern, and covered with paper.

Korean fan ... wood or bamboo with inserts

Southern-style leaf fan ... made of betel nut leaves, etc.

The Kyo-uchiwa is considered to be a product of the Chinese and Korean traditions.

4. Uchiwa

This uchiwa is made of rattan and Japanese paper (Hosokawa-shi, an intangible cultural heritage). Unlike ordinary fans, the frame is made of only three pieces moulded into a contour shape. This makes it lightweight and allows light to pass through like a shoji screen while providing a supple and soft feeling when looking up..

籐と和紙のうちわ - 東京手仕事(TOKYO Teshigoto) (no date). Available at: https://tokyoteshigoto.tokyo/product/proposal2017-fan/ (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

5. Kintsugi (Kintsukuroi)_Naoko Fukumaru

Kintsugi is a restoration technique in which broken, chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged areas of ceramics are glued together with lacquer and decorated with gold or other metal powder. European-style restoration hides the parts to be repaired and brings them closer to the original form. Kintsugi restores broken parts without hiding them and looks for beauty in imperfections.

High quality museum ceramic restoration Kintsugi glass crystal wabi sabi enamel marble ivory plaster sculpture pottery swarovski Vancouver Toronto Seattle Quebec Victoria Montreal Canada repair British Columbia BC restore China stone porcelain wood bronze Kintsukuroi Art conservation invisible hidden professional art golden joinery traditional authentic broken Japan Japanese gold fine art antique Ottawa USA North America New York Chicago san francisco california Florida US gallery (no date) Naoko Fukumaru. Available at: https://naokofukumaru.com (Accessed: 16 April 2022.

6. Kintsugi_Jonas Leriche

In this artwork, He combined his creative prowess with that of Jiro Jur in a collaboration crossing cultural and artistic backgrounds.

Through the use of fine linework and combined creative styles, Jiro and he created an exquisite composition expressing the concepts of kintsugi, non-attachment, acceptance of change and fate. Together they turned the beautiful Zoey Sao into a porcelain-human hybrid.

She is regal and bewitching, a clear example of both our styles. Even if you are broken, you can always see the scars of transformation and wear them proudly.

Leriche, J. (no date) Kintsugi 金継ぎ, Leriche Productions. Available at: https://leriche.be/fine-art/kintsugi (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

7. Plantsukuroi

This work is a vase made by human hands, mimicking the technology of a 3D printer. This work expresses "what only human beings can do" because of today's remarkable progress in technology.

Zhu Ohmu inspired this piece from the Japanese "Kin Mending" technique.

Plants fill in the gaps in this vase, just as broken pottery is joined together with gold. The ever-changing plants complete this snarling vase.

植物繕い (Plantsukuroi) (no date) ZHU OHMU. Available at: http://www.zhuohmu.com/ceramics/plantsukuroi (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

8. The Bottery

The Bottery is a pottery studio in Oakland, California that teaches digital ceramics using a ceramic 3D printer. Digital pottery is a new form of ceramic art that uses a computer to design the shape of the pottery, which is then formed on a 3D printer and fired in a ceramic kiln. The Bottery will be the location for workshops to teach digital ceramics to both individuals and corporations, regardless of experience with ceramics or 3D printing.

‘the bottery | Emerging Objects’ (no date). Available at: http://emergingobjects.com/project/the-bottery/ (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

9. Nica Brocade Fabric

This extraordinary textile is made on a backstrap loom in Guatemala by female Maya artisans who embroider the intricate pattern as they weave the base cloth. Every element of the complex design is meticulously hand stitched, a process that takes up to a month to create a single panel.

Nica Brocade Fabric (no date). Available at: https://www.arumfellow.com/brocade-panels-shop/p/nica-rosa-mnj5f

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Technique: Backstrap brocade hand weaving

Material: 100% Cotton

Origin: Craft in Guatemala

Size: 48 x 100cm

Guatemalan weaving originated over 1,500 years ago with the ancient Maya civilization. According to legend, the Maya were taught to weave by the moon goddess and cosmic weaver, Ix Chel. For the Maya, woven textiles were not just practical, they were also symbolic, demonstrating wealth and status. Weaving keeps Mayan women connected to their ancestors, and within the scared and cultural Mayan universe. Through fair trade, Mayan Hands supports them in their quest to bring their families out of extreme poverty, at the same time that they keep their cherished Mayan culture alive and develop their communities

Brand: A • RUM • FELLOW. A London based design studio dedicated to artisan textiles, rugs and statement interior pieces embalmed by color and intricate pattern. They work with Maya weaving cooperatives in Guatemala to create these works of art on cloth. Their responsable approach supports the female weavers and promotes their incredible textile art.

Guatemalan Cotton (no date). Available at: - [ ] https://tramatextiles.org/pages/weaving-process

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Spinning process (no date). Available at: - [ ] https://tramatextiles.org/pages/weaving-process

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

WEAVING PROCESS

Creating the cotton thread: Organic, locally produced, naturally dyed cotton. Guatemala is not well-known for its cotton exportation. However, the culture of this plants is one of the oldest in the country.

1. Growing the plant

2. Harvesting: Once picked the natural cotton balls (Which are white, khaki or coffee I colour) are pulled apart to remove the seeds. Then, the cotton is stretched and pounded into a rectangle in preparation of spinning it into thread.

Debanader (no date). Available at: - [ ] https://tramatextiles.org/pages/weaving-process

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

Urdidor (no date). Available at: - [ ] https://tramatextiles.org/pages/weaving-process

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

3. The cotton is hand-spun on a spool.

4. Dyeing Process: Made with natural and earth-friendly colourants. A natural fixator made from banana leaves is used to ensure the finished yarn does not bleed. The cotton is first dipped in the banana water then into the pot containing the boiling water and desired dye. Depending on the hue desired, the yarn is boiled for 2-3 hours.

5. Dipping the now dyed yarn in the banana water again to fix the colours.

6. Balls of yarn are formed through a process called ´Debanadera´. Next they wrap the thread between each piece of wood of a wooden table called Úrdidor´.

7. Women begin to weave with the ancestral backstop loom technique.

Dyed Cotton (no date). Available at: - [ ] https://tramatextiles.org/pages/weaving-process

(Accessed: 12 April 2022).

The backstrap loom, or Telar de Cintura, consists of the strap which wraps around the weavers back (giving the loom its name), a series of bars which hold the yarn in place, and a rope attached to a tree or post to provide tension. The loom is portable, Jason why most weavers prefer make it outside, where the sun brings out the textiles´ colours.

The backstrap loom is an essential element of any Mayan household, not only because it produces the cloth that keeps the family warm, but because it connects them with the past and provides an outlet for artistic impulses.

Backstrap loom weaving is also often related to fertility and childbirth. The back-and-forth motion of the hips during weaving are compared to similar movements during childbirth, and in many Mayan communities, expectant mothers are encouraged to finish their weavings before the baby is born to ensure that it is born without problems.

10. Baskets. Woven Knowledge

Baskets not only demosntrate the weaving ability of the women who make them, they also represent the role of women in preserving ancestral culture. Oscar Román Jitdutjaaño ans Alicia Sánchez see toght and intricate weaving as evidence od wisdom, while looserand simpler work implies the loss of traditional knowledge. the ability to produce some of the patterns in these baskets has been lost as a result of the destruction caused by the rubber boom.

Baskets British Museum Exhibition (2022)

Technique: Different techniques and patterns

Year: Early 1900s

Material: Plant Fibers

Origin: Colombia/ Peru

Size: different sizes

The different techniques and patterns used to make these baskets (Colombian ans Peruvian) have underlying meanings connected to traditions that have been almost completely forgotten. Today, baskets of this size are used to collect coca leaves and carry them to ceremonial houses, where they are dried out and prepared for consumption. Larger baskets are used to transport cassava roots and other large tubers, as well as hunted animals.

On the other hand, willow baskets -for carrying vegetables, laundry, coal, fruit, bicycles, shopping, letters- were fixrures of British life until plastic arrived in the 1950s. The craft of basketmaking hasn´t changed in thousands of years.

The liife and work of basketmaker Annemarie O´Sullivan revolves around the rythms of the natural world. Born in Ireland but based in East Sussex, England, she grows more than 20 years of willow in the countryside around her home, using the harvest and dried material -along with locally gathered sweet chestnut- to create a variety of woven works, from small-scale baskets and other functional pieces to large sculptural objects, lampshades and collaborative design pieces.

Entirely organic and sustainable, O´Sullivan´s practice is born from the desire to ̋live lightly on the land ̋. She works from a wooden studio in her garden, close to the nature she loves, and embraces the natural variations in the material, meaning that two objects are ever the same. Nature inspires her design ideas, too. Other inspirations include objects she finds in museums and traditional basketmaking techniques she´s reasearched in her native Ireland.

Annemarie O´Sullivan Large Frame Basket based on forms traditionally used for holding fishing line. This piece was influenced by Welsh and Irish frame baskets (no date).

Available at: - https://www.homofaber.com/en/venice-calling?page=16855#annemarie-o-sullivan-crafting-in-harmony-with-nature (Accessed: 12 April 2022).

11. Bamun Currency 10

Bamum 10,5 ̋ wide (No date)

Technique: Bronze Casting

Year:

Material: Bronze

Origin: CameroonW

Size: 10,5 ̋

This massive ornate copper-alloy (bronze or brass) bracelet is a form of currency found among the Bamum (Bamun) people of Cameroon. Though often identified as a currency type it also served as a prestige object available in most instances to elites within Bamum society. Featuring a complex series of patterns this hollow cast bracelet is decorated with concentric circles at both edges separeted by a series of dots, lines, zig-zag patternsans a center section arranged as a complex interlace design. This massive, heavy and hollow cast bracelet is an example of the skill of the Bamum bronze caster in casting a large metal form with complex design on the outer surface and a smooth interior surface with an open space between both surfaces. This bracelet reflects the tradition of casting in copper-alloys that was encouraged if not developed by Fon Obrahim Njoya who lived from 1873 to 1933. It was during the last years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century that Fon Njoya in his capital at Foumbam encouraged craft workers incñuding metal workers, carvers, weavers and potter. It was a center for the development of the arts and crafts and the prdominance of the casting of copper-alloy objects that include pipes, figures an especially large bracelets. They mastered the craft, perfected the designing of the wax models. and eliminated the competition in the field. The Bamum casts became and still are excellent examples of lost-wax casting.

12. Zanat Artistic Mosaic at Homo Faber

A team of 10 talented Zanat artisans (woodcarvers and craftsman) worked under the direction of the architect, Emir Salkic, to produce an artistic hand-carved mosaic, sculped in precisely cut wooden blocks in maple and walnut. The mosaic was inspired by the pattern of the basilica San Giorgio Maggiore terrace. It took close to two hundred hpurs of work to craft the piece, on top of the time spent on desogn. The result is an exquisite ornament reminiscent of renaissance artistry and artisanship.

Zanat Artistic Mosaic (2022)

Technique: Wood Carving

Year: 2022

Material: Maple and Walnut wood

Origin: Colombia/ Peru

The event selected a group of artisans from all over Europe to present work inspired by the lace-lake octagonal pattern of the tiled terrace in front of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore.

From Village Craft to UNESCO World Heritage List

The story of Zanat dates more than a century back in time, when the grandfather of the current generation lerned the carving technique from pioneer woodcarver-entrepreneurs of their native Bosnia. They collaborated with already established furniture producers in Sarajevo. Konjic (hometown) woodcarvers masterd the furniture making business and didn´t take long for their work to be shown to the world, and for the world to begin to appreciate it: they exhibited their work at some of the most significant exhibitions -at the ̋Hungarian Millenium ̋ exhibition in Budapest in 1896, then at the Brussels International Exposition in 1897, followed by Vienna in 1898, and finally at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Grandfather at Belgrade Furniture Fair (1939). Available at: - https://zanat.org/about-us/the-story-of-zanat/

(Accessed: 17 April 2022).

Zanat Carving. Available at: - https://zanat.org/about-us/the-story-of-zanat/

(Accessed: 17 April 2022).

Zanat preparing dazzling exhibition in Stokholm (2015)

Available at: - https://zanat.org/about-us/the-story-of-zanat/

(Accessed: 17 April 2022).

13. Arabic Calligraphy in the UAE

The Arabic language is a powerful force, uniting Muslim communities through its use in Islamic prayers ans literature. The art of Arabic calligraphy is said to represent unity, beauty and power -and its sinuus lettering decorates countless religious buldings throughout Muslim countries.

Kufic script from the Holy Qur'an, 11th century (Image sourcing: Smithsonian's Museum of Asian Art)

Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/03/taking-a-closer-look-at-arabic-calligraphy/

(Accessed: 18 April 2022).

As a grow house of the arts, the UAE´s cities have become hotspots for contemporary calligraphers to meet, collaborate and showcase their work. Today, evnts like the biennal Dubai International Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition and Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival bring the ancient skill into the modern world.

14. Zellige tiling in Morocco

Instragram feeds are alive with examples of these intricate tiles, which adorn everything from decadent hammams to Moorish architecture. Islam frobade the depiction of hiuman or animal figures in decorative art, which spurred the development of theses distinctive geometric patterns.

Using a technique dating back to the 1oth century, zelliege tilers are master craftsmen wgose training begins in childhood an passes down through families. And now it´s boom time for many family-run Moroccan business who make these tiles, as high-end hotels, spas and resorts around the world seek out their skills.

Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, Meknes

@historiadeunmochlero (February 17, 2016

A typically caleidoscopic example of zellige tiling (No date)

Available at: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/lifes-rich-tapestry-thriving-traditional-arts-crafts-around-world

Accesed: 12 April, 2022

Origin: Morocco

15. The Arc at Green School

The Arc is the newest bulding on campus at the world-renowed Green School in Bali, Indonesia. The school has a 12 yera history pf breaking boundaries and expanding horizons and the Arc is the newest benchmark in that history, raising the bar for sustainable education around the world.

The Arc at Green School (INDONESIA, Bali) (2021. Available at: https://www.archilovers.com/projects/290508/the-arc-at-green-school-gallery?2936279 (Accessed: 16 April 2022).

The Arc at Green School is built from a series of intersecting 14 meter tall bamboo arches spanning 19 meters, interconnected by anticlastic gridshells which derive their strength from curving in two opposite directions.

DEsigned by IBUKU architects, has pioneered a new design vocabulary, making their own rules along the wa, and offerinf new solutions to the world through their journey. The bulding is not only an innovative bamboo architecture piece, but in turn is a reference in lightweight structures altogether.

The Arc at Green School (INDONESIA, Bali) (2021. Available at: https://www.archilovers.com/projects/290508/the-arc-at-green-school-gallery?2936279 (Accessed: 16 April 2022).