Manitoba Craft Council's Free Events

Just got this in my email and the events look pretty interesting.  Thought I'd post it here so no one misses out.  :)  Sorry for the cut and paste look....my blog posts always look goofy when I use anyone's else's notes.  

The Manitoba Craft Council invites you to three FREE craft events:

 

Free Screening: Sum of its parts
A Film about rug-hooker and artist Nancy Edell and her legacy by Kirby Hammond
Apr 19, 7pm   Winnipeg Art Gallery, 100 Memorial

Nancy Edell (1942 – 2005) is best known for the transgressive, representational works she created using an unlikely medium: rug hooking.  Her practice also included woodcuts, monotypes, drawings and animated films.  Throughout her career, that began in Nebraska, ended in Halifax, and included many years in Winnipeg, Nancy was rigorous in her craft and passionate about her feminist content.  Towards the end of her life, she envisioned herself an “art nun”, and created visually spectacular representations of art nuns in action!  Her last solo exhibition was featured at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2005.

This film by Winnipegger Kirby Hammond Sum of its parts, is an intimate portrait of the artist and a stunning visual representation of her works. It also contains interviews with Nancy’s heirs, and discusses the difficult problem of artist estates and inheritance tax laws.
As a special bonus, Nancy Edell’s animations from the 1970s and another short by Kirby, Universal Movement Machine about Whitehorse textile artist Meshell Melvin will be screened.
This event is co-sponsored by MAWA and the Manitoba Craft Council.

Free Public Talks by Dr. Sandra Alfoldy

The Manitoba Craft Council is pleased to present free public talks by Dr. Sandra Alfoldy, Professor of Craft History at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and and Associate Curator of Fine Craft at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.  

Wednesday, May 9, 7:30 pm
The Allied Arts: Architecture and Craft in Postwar Canada
Lecture and Book Signing
RAW Gallery, 290 McDermot Avenue
Painting, sculpture, architecture, design and craft continue to jockey for status in the artistic landscape, and one of the most coveted positions is that of public art. Materials easily classified as craft when produced on a small scale in a studio setting suddenly appear sculptural or painterly on a large scale. Since World War Two Canadian architecture has provided unique occasions to challenge and shape the field we call contemporary craft.  This lecture will explore instances where Canadian architecture and craft have worked together, and sometimes at odds with each other, in an effort to demonstrate that even in the twenty-first century they remain Allied Arts.
 
Thursday, May 10, 7-9 pm
DIY Will Never Die!
Lecture and reception
Eckhardt-Grammatte Hall, University of Winnipeg
The DIY Movement has received much attention as a new driving force behind craft economics. This lecture will contrast historical craft pioneers with contemporary crafters to argue that in order to understand future craft economies as they are connected to the power of do-it-yourself crafting, it is essential to examine past craft economies.  What ideologies keep repeating, and what are the elements that keep DIY alive and financially vital across generations?
 
BIO
Dr. Sandra Alfoldy is Professor of Craft History at NSCAD University, and Associate Curator of Fine Craft at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. She is the author of The Allied Arts: Architecture and Craft in Postwar Canada (2012) and Crafting Identity: The Development of Professional Fine Craft in Canada (2005), editor of Neocraft: Modernity and the Crafts (2007) and co-editor of Craft, Space and Interior Design, 1855-2005 (2008). She was the Chief Curator of the national Canadian exhibition at the Cheongju International Craft Biennale (2009) and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. She is currently at work on a new book on craft and popular culture.
 

SLOW CRAFT: Call for entries
Deadline: May 3

SLOW CRAFT is the theme of the MCC’s 2012 Juried Exhibition.  All craft-based artists are encouraged to apply.

SLOW CRAFT takes as its starting point the issues emerging from the broader Slow Movement that developed as a response to our increasingly fast-paced Western lifestyles and our unsustainable consumer culture.  Slowness is often associated with craft.  Craft skills take time to learn; craft processes cannot be rushed.  Many makers today are developing critical positions in response to our consumer behavior, questioning modes of production through new processes, looking at issues of stewardship and sustainability as well as collective making and the reworking of everyday objects.

SLOW CRAFT will represent approximately 15 craft artists who reside in Manitoba and whose work pushes the boundaries of their media and reflects fresh approaches to diverse cultural and material traditions. Works will be chosen based upon artistic merit (technical skill, formal effect, and conceptual success), with a particular interest in pieces that connect to our exhibition’s SLOW CRAFT theme.  Original works (ie. not derived from a pattern or kit) rooted in traditional approaches to craft and those that encompass new technologies, are performative, reflect a d-i-y ethic or challenge preconceived notions of craft are equally welcome.

Click here for full details.