Core77

Guest post by William Gordon

Massclusivity Symposium: New Models of viable design and craft collaborations in the developing world. Harborfront Center, Toronto, September 7th, 2007.

The Massclusivity Symposium brought together many different players in the globalized craft design world for a one-day conference at the Harborfront Center in Toronto, Canada. The event coincided with the Massclusivity exhibit at the nearby Haborfront Gallery, where ceramics, furniture, textiles, lighting and accessories produced through collaborations between designers and craftspeople from the developing world were exhibited.

The speakers in the symposium collectively laid out a new paradigm for the future of the globalization of handmade objects. "The developing world is the new frontier of design," offered Patty Johnson, the key address at the symposium. Designers from various disciplines presented case studies of work produced through collaborations between them and local manufacturers. Factory owners and leaders of regional product initiatives spoke about their local challenges and their dependence on the global marketplace in producing sustainable economies for local communities.

The intersection of international design and local traditions gives designers a pivotal role in effect of globalization on small communities with small scale production. The term "Massclusivity" put forth by the show includes objects that embrace hand-made traditions--without the sentimentality of wares mostly produced for the tourist market--and are skillfully designed and made in small batch production; micro industries creating affordable and appealing objects available to the mass consumer.

Presenters and topics Included:
Patty Johnson - North South Project: A new model of viable design and craft collaborations in the developing world- Furniture, accessory and lighting from Botswana and Guyana.

Rachel MacHenry - Moving Towards Sustainable Crafts Production - Children's knitwear and felt line is produced through fair trade production in collaboration with community cooperatives in Nepal

William Gordon - Reflections on a Mission to Manila - Design collaboration with 16 manufactures in the Philippines.

Mahan Anjum Chesti - Working in Sri Lanka- Collaborating with traditional terracotta potters in Colombo, Sri Lanka developing a line of products for Habitat in the UK

Dr. Michael Prokopow - The Subaltern's Dilemma: Post-Colonial Design

Daniel Hernandez-Ruiz - Guanajuato Mexico's Design + Crafts: Regional Initiative for a New Decorative Identity- A Mexican region's initiative to bring design and crafts people together to redefine their economic visibility on the global market by harnessing traditional crafts.

Jocelyn Dow - The Story of Liana Cane- Environmentally sustainable, economically viable furniture production in Guyana based on the sustainable use of non-timber forest products.