Crafting the Commons

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This network will creatively interrogate intersections between contemporary concepts of the commons and 'disruptive' craft initiatives - community-oriented activities which radically challenge the structures of industrial production and consumer culture - in order to cross-fertilise design and commons scholarship and influence future practical activity. It builds on recent work to extend theories of the commons beyond land-related contexts to embrace a diverse array of tangible and intangible collectively shared resources. Despite many resonances between the two fields, craft (understood here in expanded terms to encompass diverse making, repair and sharing practices) has yet to be examined through a commons lens.The network will inform the development of a major touring exhibition by Craftspace, an Arts Council-funded organisation which works to demonstrate the progressive role of craft in civil society. The exhibition, which will launch at Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) in Birmingham in September 2020, will comprise work by twelve makers that explores commons concepts and narratives, including three projects developed in collaboration with community groups in order to incorporate a broader range of voices into the debates. The exhibition will inspire diverse making communities to rethink their practices from a commons perspective and highlight the transformative potential of commons thinking to cultural organisations. Further dissemination activities including a blog, podcast series, exhibition catalogue, leaflet and journal articles will make the network's findings available to academic and lay audiences.Academics with expertise in craft/design and commons will participate in the network alongside the exhibition's curators and commissioned makers. Two international academics and two international makers will take part, bringing alternative cultural perspectives. Together, the participants will explore emergent academic research on the ideas, stories and politics of the commons to examine existing community-based craft initiatives and prototype experimental craft-as-commons practices. In summary, three research questions will be investigated:- What forms of commons can be created or animated through craft, making and repair?- What are the political dimensions of these practices, and what is their transformative potential?- What mythologies and narratives are drawn on in the creation of these 'craft commons', and how are these translated into social and material practice? Network members will come together through a series of events and research activities:- Event 1, an intensive theory retreat in Amsterdam incorporating two context-setting visits, will generate 'commons stories' to kickstart activity.- Event 2, a workshop at New Art Exchange in Nottingham, will introduce key concepts of the commons and make initial connections to disruptive craft practices.- Academics will undertake field visits to five community-oriented making, repair and sharing initiatives including a makerspace and a tool library.- Pairs of academics will visit the socially engaged community projects commissioned for the exhibition, while four Skype meetings will connect academics with the makers producing individual commissions; in all cases, the academics will act as both resource and observer.- Event 3, a workshop at Jigsaw, an autonomous social centre in Dublin, will provide space to discuss the research activities to date and to prototype experimental ideas for 'craft commons' via a social design jam. - Event 4, at MAC in Birmingham, will incorporate a final reflective workshop and a sharing day with 80 bookable places, coinciding with the launch of the exhibition. Presentations will share stories from the network, while discussions will consider the issues arising from this work and the ways in which attendees could apply commons ideas within their own practices.