Hong Kong’s contemporary art centre Para Site is working to
reframe the narrative around craft, and recently held a major
exhibition that travelled to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Poland, Norway
and Thailand. Titled A Beast, a God and a Line, it explores ideas
of human connection and movement across the Asia-Pacific region,
with textiles underpinning the architecture and storyline.
Co-curators Cosmin Costinas and Vivian Ziherl argue that there is a
need to “include, as a matter of urgency, practices that have been
systematically excluded from the realm of art and designated by a
colonial ethnographic gaze as craft, folklore or, at best,
‘traditional’ art”.

Although Manhattan’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) – located
opposite Central Park in a 5,000sq m building with a
terracotta-tiled and fritted glass facade – dropped “craft” from
its name in 2002, it remains dedicated to innovation in craft, art
and design. The 2022 line-up includes a show that pushes the
boundaries of floral arrangements; an exhibition by furniture
sculptor Chris Schanck, who works with other artists, students and
Bangladeshi craftspeople; and Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle,
which highlights the outrageous creations of cabaret, drag and
theatre costume designer Matthew Flower.

The V&A is the world’s largest museum of applied and
decorative arts, and although craft isn’t mentioned in its mission
statement, artisanal and handmade items are central to its
permanent collection of more than 2.3 million objects spanning
5,000 years. Among its unrivalled collection of textiles, fashion,
jewellery, furniture, metalwork, glass and ceramics are exquisite
pieces from Jingdezhen (known as China’s porcelain capital), ornate
Iznik ceramics from Turkey and famed figurines by Germany’s
Meissen. British ceramics are well represented including the
standalone V&A Wedgwood Collection at Barlaston,
Stoke-on-Trent. A highlight here is the iconic anti-slavery
medallion produced in the 18th century by Wedgwood, with an updated
narrative to reflect current debates around race and equality.

A must-see in the Austrian capital, most visitors to the head
straight to the first floor for its outstanding collection of
European masters, which includes numerous Brueghels, two of the
remaining original (and astonishing) Four Seasons by Arcimboldo,
and Vermeer’s celebrated The Art of Painting. Just off the main
entrance is the less-trodden Kunstkammer – a 20-gallery,
2,200-piece-strong cabinet of curiosities amassed by the once
omnipotent Habsburgs before their empire collapsed in the early
20th century. Within this fantastical wing stands vitrine after
gleaming vitrine of glittering objects from the Middle Ages to the
baroque period – golden bowls, silver platters, cups made of
ostrich eggs, a ship-shaped automaton… The list goes on.

High up in the Andes, in the Peruvian city of Cusco, is Xapiri
Ground, a non-profit organisation that promotes the art and culture
of Peru’s indigenous Amazonians. Its discreet shopfront hides a
trove of treasures, including intricately patterned clay animals
and jars by Shipibo-Konibo women and the vibrant geometric textiles
of the Iskonawa people. Also on show are designs by artist Emily
Urquía Sebastián, inspired by the Yine community’s traditional
body art. All monies from sales are reinvested into the creation of
more art and on-the-ground projects that facilitate sustainable
economies. According to Melanie Dizon, creative director of Xapiri
Ground: “The essence of Amazonian indigenous art is born from
mythopoesis, storytelling and song, expressed through each
culture’s iconography, techniques, colours and materials, most of
which stem from the natural environment that surrounds and sustains
their life.”

On Fogo Island, a windswept settlement off Newfoundland, Canada,
communities have embraced a social business model in place of a
struggling cod-fishing industry. A charitable initiative,
Shorefast, founded the luxurious Fogo Island Inn and Fogo Island
Arts (FIA), a residency-based, contemporary arts organisation that
brings in artists, curators, filmmakers, writers, musicians,
designers and thinkers from around the world. The island’s wild
beauty and thoughtful art shows have become drawcards for intrepid
travellers. Many artists take cues from local craft practices. A
recent exhibition by Abbas Akhavan referenced the island’s elevated
wooden sheds for landing and processing fish. Earlier this year,
Shezad Dawood’s Between Land & Sea featured textile-based
paintings, video and a reworked handmade fishing net from the 70s.
In 2018 artist Ieva Epnere employed textiles, oral tradition and
music as key components of her work, to explore the rich local
histories embedded in the landscape.