|
|
|
Program
|
SATURDAY, MARCH 14
|
|
9:00 - 10:00
|
|
Registration and Refreshments
|
|
|
10:00 - 10:15
|
|
Welcome, with Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University President
|
|
|
10:15 - 11:30
|
|
FIGURING A WAY, with Judith Leemann, Keynote Speaker
Two nodes: sustainability and craft. Let them organize a thinking space as two magnets organize a field of iron filings. Bring in all manner of material: arborist and anti-war potters, indigo farmers, anthropologists who insist that forests think, sculptors tracking the origins of their materials back into the mines, plastic rubber band looms in landfills, Kurt Vonnegut writing time backwards, a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the magnificent gesture of clay slip thrown against a museum wall, and the clean up of that magnificent gesture by a someone else, the fiction of away we indulge every time we toss a thing in the trash.
|
|
|
11:30 - 12:45
|
|
THE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE, with Robert Mitchell, Ryan Taylor, Dr. Alia Weston and moderated by Ken Vickerson
What factors make a craft practice relevant, as well socially and economically viable in the 21st century? How can research, invention and reimagined business models support these goals? What is the difference between needs and wants and how much “Stuff” is enough? How can makers maintain passion for their practice and produce objects with utility and meaning? What can we learn from craft specialists from other cultures? How can challenges refresh and sustain a craft practice? Does diversifying dilute or strengthen craft practice? Moderator, Prof. Ken Vickerson (OCADU) and panelists Ryan Taylor (FTJC), Dr. Alia Weston (OCADU) and Prof. Robert Mitchell (OCADU) will explore these questions and present diverse examples, in an effort to bring practical approaches to strengthening our personal pursuits.
|
|
|
12:45 - 2:00
|
|
Lunch - please see the REGISTRATION information page for ordering a brown bag lunch
|
|
|
2:00 - 3:15
|
|
SPEAKER, Matt Ratto
It is as though in our cultural iconography we are given the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps, but no thought bright behind the eye, no image that links hand and brain. (Rose, The Mind at Work)
In this talk I hope to convince you of something you already know – namely the role of brains as well as hands in the practices of craft work. More importantly, I hope to give you – as crafters, as craft enthusiasts, as craft educators - the resources you need to better explain to others how craft work connects up with ways of thinking and being in the world that are increasingly important for modern society. To better detail these ideas I will use examples from a craft practice in which I have been involved for the last two years, namely the production of custom prosthetics.
|
|
|
3:15 - 3:20
|
|
Closing Comments, with Emma Quin, Craft Ontario Executive Director
|
|
|
4:00 and on
|
|
Offsite programming - please see the EVENTS page and explore your options! Make sure to register ahead of time to secure a spot in your desired event.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
SUNDAY, MARCH 15
|
|
9:00 - 10:00
|
|
Registration and Refreshments
|
|
|
10:00 - 10:15
|
|
Welcome, with Ken Vickerson, Chair of the Material Art & Design program at OCAD University
|
|
|
10:15 - 11:30
|
|
EMERGING SUSTAINABLY: CRAFT GRADUATE PANEL, with Theresa Duong, Simon Ford, Jen Kneulman, Marcelina Salazar, Silvia Taylor and moderated by Dorie Millerson
This panel discussion will address the concerns a new craft graduate faces when developing a sustainable studio practice. Graduates from multiple craft disciplines will discuss definitions of sustainable practice; identifying challenges that occur and the role educational institutions play in preparing graduates.
|
|
|
11:30 - 12:45
|
|
SPEAKER, Rachel Miller
Rachel Miller will discuss textile manufacturing processes and how textile applications impact diverse environments and communities. A consideration of the pros and cons of sustainable and non-sustainable textiles and applications will be examined, as well as alternative ways in which design, craft and sustainable initiatives can make space for viable social and environmental alternatives.
|
|
|
12:45 - 2:00
|
|
Lunch - please see the REGISTRATION information page for ordering a brown bag lunch
|
|
|
2:00 - 3:15
|
|
INUIT COMMUNITIES PANEL, with Blandina Makkik, Ryan Oliver, Koomuatuk Sapa Curley and moderated by Anna Hudson
The current decline in market support for Inuit art and crafts is happening alongside a rise in digital media for global cultural expression. This shift marks a loss of revenue for territorial economies, and underscores issues of uneven access to the Information and Communication Technologies across the Canadian arctic. Panelists will address questions of material supply and market development; the agency of artists and craftspeople in the stewardship of their careers; and the future role of technology in reimagining this agency to mobilize Inuit cultural heritage.
|
|
|
3:15 - 3:30
|
|
Break and Refreshments
|
|
|
3:30 - 4:45
|
|
FROM CRAFTIVISM TO CRAFTWASHING, a conversation with Anthea Black and Nicole Burisch and moderated by Lynne Heller
In the almost-decade since the word “craftivism” has been used to describe the blending of craft and activism, a number of forces have complicated this relatively emergent dialogue and set of practices. This discussion will investigate how the particular qualities of craft have been conflated with notions of authenticity, individuality, and radical politics, and what this might mean in regards to changing notions of activism. If “greenwashing” refers to the use of branding to make a product seem eco-friendly while concealing its negative impacts, we introduce the term “craftwashing” to refer instances where craft is used to market and perform political and social engagement while obscuring similarly sticky ethical, environmental, and economic impacts of global production and consumption.
|
|
|
4:45 - 5:00
|
|
Closing Comments, with Gord Thompson, Craft Ontario Past President
|
|
|
