what will 2011 bring for the traditional crafts?

[robin wood]

2011 may look like being a year of austerity but for the traditional crafts it may prove to be the most exciting year for a long time. HCA believe this year will see an explosion of traditional crafts in the media and by the end of 2011 the profile and status of traditional craftspeople will be raised and their skills recognised. http://traditionalcraftsblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-will-2011-bring-for-traditional.html

 

[hairyhippy]

Robin are you involved with, or do you know anything about the Derbyshire Eco centre? I've only just found out about the place and was thinking of trying out some of their courses in the new year and would be interested in any opinions you have of the place.

Regards Pete

 

[robin wood]

Hi Pete,

I am not involved, I would have gone to the opening but was in London for a committee meeting. The building certainly looks great and I wish it well. The problem with initiatives like this tends to be that it is easy to get the funding for the build but not for the running costs and not easy to make it genuinely sustainable in the long term. A similar initiative the Earth Centre at Doncaster gained lots of funding, built a great building but ran into financial difficulties and closed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Centre,_Doncaster Perhaps the timing is better now, certainly funding streams are drying up so the management will have to work hard to make it economically viable.

Personally I favour bottom up initiatives that fund and support things where people are actively doing stuff already rather than grand top down schemes. I can't comment on the courses other than saying the photo of the guy doing hurdles is Alastair Hayhurst and he is a nice chap and good craftsman.