Curatorial, performance, craft: a shift in contemporary practice
Manopoulou, Loucia (2022) Curatorial, performance, craft: a shift in contemporary practice. PhD thesis, University for the Creative Arts.
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Curatorial, Performance, Craft: A Shift in Contemporary Practice, explores a wave of contemporary makers who are transforming the image of craft, challenging historical and cultural preconceptions by incorporating performance or performativity, resulting in progressive, often political work. The term kaino-craft is introduced to define this specific shift observed in the practice from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
This thesis investigates curatorial practice as a mode of research, drawing from Peter Bjerregaard’s (2020) Exhibition as Research which provides a fresh perspective on the knowledge value of exhibitions. Specifically, this research focuses on the mise-en-scène, which is overlooked in the context of craft’s curatorial theory. This research moves the focus beyond craft’s capacity to carry information, into an investigation of its non-textual quality, particularly the relationship between research, curating and exhibitionary practice.
The thesis theories are examined through the practices of contemporary makers, ceramic artist Phoebe Cummings and textile artist Celia Pym, who break away from the traditional practice of the singular still object and direct the attention to the ways their material and works perform. Two curatorial projects, Makers’ Tale and Hidden Histories, apply and test the findings of the case studies.
This research intends to develop new interpretations of the relationships between the established categories. The thesis contributes to craft’s curatorial theory by opening up new perspectives on the curatorial process as a practice-based form of academic research. The curatorial outcome acts as a platform for identifying new and unconsidered inquiries that may open new avenues for research and inspire other similar investigations in both curatorial and craft practice as well as future scholarships.
PhD scholarship
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