Craft Expertise, or ‘Supporting diversity and expertise development in the contemporary craft economy’ is an AHRC Leadership Fellows project by Dr Karen Patel of Birmingham City University, in collaboration with Crafts Council UK.
This is a 2 year project which began in March 2019, and involves research and public engagement activities which seek to address the following objectives:
- To develop a theoretical account of craft expertise which will challenge how craft expertise is framed in the contemporary digital and cultural economy, particularly in relation to gender and race.
- To produce recommendations for policy relating to BAME cultural workers in the digital and creative economy, and issues around inequalities in the wider sector.
- To enhance understanding of the specificity of craft expertise as mediated on social media platforms.
The project involves interviews, ethnography, podcasts, workshops, academic publications and a conference. Keep visiting this website for updates as the project progresses, and to access resources and outputs. Some of the resources on here are from the previous project, ‘supporting diversity in craft through digital technology skills development‘ completed in December 2018.
For any queries relating to the project feel free to email me at karen.patel[at]bcu.ac.uk.