Eleanor FLEGG
Shortlisted 2010

Extract from Research Statement

I am looking for funding to support a PhD research project conducted through the University of Ulster, looking at the studio crafts movement in the Republic of Ireland in the period between 1970 and 1995. It looks particularly at the organizations that supported craft in this period, and at the relationship between those organizations and the makers. This study addresses the perceived division between traditional and studio craft, and the way in which traditional crafts were transformed into studio craft practices.

Aims, objective and overall significance

I became interested in craft through my work in journalism. As a columnist for the Sunday Times (2004-2009) and the Irish Arts Review (2003-), I developed a great affection and respect for craftspeople and gained an appreciation of the cultural and aesthetic value of craft practices. I also became aware of the complete lack of research in the area. Recent craft history is entirely unwritten and most of the knowledge remains in people's memories and in ephemeral and unarchived documents. Some of the key people involved in the crafts movement in the 1970s are very old and keen to tell their stories before it is too late. Documents are scattered and sparse and there is always the danger that the 'box in the attic', so invaluable to a researcher, will be considered worthless by the next generation and thrown away. The primary aim of this project is simply to create a record of information that might otherwise be lost.

Expected audience

I think that it is important that Irish craft takes its place in the international academic debate and I would like my work to become part of that story, but my long term aim is to contribute to a body of research that is relevant and useful to craftspeople, educators, and policymakers.

Research Methods and Planned Timescale

The project is due to be submitted in October 2011. It is essentially an oral history, supported by documentary evidence. The research method is to gather digital sound recordings of people intimately associated with the development of the crafts in Ireland since 1970. These will be supported by primary material from repertories like the National Irish Visual Arts Library, whose collections include the archive of the Kilkenny Design Workshop, and the Crafts Council of Ireland archive. Other primary sources will include the journals Newsletter and Craft Review, the RTE television series Hands, exhibition catalogues, newspaper reports, promotional material, and the publications generated by the organizations with a responsibility for craft.

Proposed outputs and dissemination methods

1. While funding at this stage is required to complete the research rather than to aid publication, it is my intention that the research will eventually become a book. My plan is that this book will be of popular as well as academic interest.

2. I will also obtain permission from the interviewees that the digital voice files can be archived for research and educational purposes. This has been done successfully in the UK by the National Electronic & Video Archive of the Crafts and their research can be accessed online at http://www.media.uwe.ac.uk. I hope that, in time, a similar archive can be compiled for Irish craft.

3. In the meantime, as a PhD researcher at the University of Ulster I am expected to speak at an international conference and to contribute to a reputable journal as part of my studies.

Financial needs

This research is primarily funded through the University of Ulster's Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship. But I need additional funding to cover the expenses incurred while undertaking interviews within Ireland and internationally.