The Journal of Modern Craft Volume 4 Issue 2

Book excerpt: The Journal of Modern Craft is the first peer-reviewed academic journal to provide an interdisciplinary and international forum in its subject area. It addresses all forms of making that self-consciously set themselves apart from mass production-whether in the making of designed objects, artworks, buildings, or other artifacts. The journal covers craft in all its historical and contemporary manifestations, from the mid-nineteenth century, when handwork was first consciously framed in opposition to industrialization, through to the present day, when ideas once confined to the 'applied arts' have come to seem vital across a huge range of cultural activities. Special emphasis is placed on studio practice, and on the transformations of indigenous forms of craft activity throughout the world. The journal also reviews and analyses the relevance of craft within new media, folk art, architecture, design, contemporary art, and other fields. The Journal of Modern Craft is the main scholarly voice on the subject of craft, conceived both as an idea and as a field of practice in its own right.