After a recent trip to London -where we spent an inordinate amount of time at the Victoria and Albert Museum ogling all manner of historical craft objects- it was a relief to arrive back home and find an outlet for my newly-heightened craft fetish in Calgary. Following on the heels of Brendan Tang's exhibition of ceramic work and Mireille Perron's Laboratory of Feminist Pataphysics (which included numerous stitched, crocheted, and knitted items), The New Gallery seems poised to become a new hotbed for contemporary craft activity in Calgary with Paul Robles' My Beautiful War running until September 1st, 2007.

Robles' multi-layered collages use the historical technique of paper-cutting. However, embedded among the patterned flora and fauna typical of this craft, is a host of imagery drawn from contemporary sources (guns, conflict, sexual acts, dead bodies, skulls). It seems to me that this work is, in many ways, quite similar to that of other contemporary craft artists who subversively reinterpret traditional motifs and media to address political subject matter (Paul Scott, Rory McDonald, Sin-Ying Ho, to name a few from ceramic-land). In fact, it would have made good sense to pair this work with Brendan Tang's, whose work uses reworked historical ceramic forms and traditional techniques to address issues of globalization, international conflict, climate change, cultural identities, and consumer culture. A joint exhibition would have provided an excellent critical framework for examining the ways in which this strategy of reinterpretation is used in both artists' work.

Even outside of the fine art/craft world, more and more examples of these new approaches to craft are springing up (http://www.subversivecrossstitch.com/, http://www.churchofcraft.org/, http://knitting.activist.ca/). Which leads to the question: what is the fascination with re-working craft in this way? Re-appropriations of historical works are not unique to the field of craft, but there does seem to be a particular eagerness among crafters to reexamine, reincorporate, rework and otherwise turn craft history on its head. Perhaps it stems from the underlying assumption that traditional craft objects and techniques are gentle, passive, decorative, and inherently apolitical. Thus, when reworked, there is an extra shock (and thrill!) when we discover that grandma's socks can now function as a controversial political tool. Robles' paper works are a fine example of this: initially appearing as quietly decorative, but upon closer inspection filled with loaded content.

Whatever the case may be, the majority of this kind of work - Robles' included - still places significant emphasis on the skills required for making these crafts; alongside this increased interest in subversive/subverting craft, there clearly remains a fascination and respect for the traditions of technique and crafts(wo)manship. This might initially suggest some kind of love-hate tug-of-war between respect and critique of tradition (which, come to think of it, might not be an entirely inappropriate reading of most of contemporary craft practice). Nevertheless, these contradictions seem to be providing fertile ground for a new type of craft practice: using the vocabulary of tradition to speak powerfully and critically about significant contemporary issues.