handiCRAFT: TRADITIONAL SKILLS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

The exhibition handiCRAFT: Traditional Skills in the Digital Age forges a bridge between history and handicraft’s current prospects in Europe. It shines a light on the sustainable, resource-conserving potential of handicrafts, demonstrates new developments at the interface with digital technologies, and presents masterful pieces of work from various sectors.

Curator: Tina Zickler
Curator: Rainald Franz, Curator, MAK Glass and Ceramics Collection

The exhibition reflects on the significance and status of handicraft as an integral component of material culture and cultural identity. In six sections, this comprehensive MAK exhibition encompasses handicraft from historical times to current European perspectives, examines how handicraft can help preserve natural resources, explores new developments on the interface to digital technologies, and presents masterpieces from a range of craft disciplines.

Currently the terms “handicraft” and “handmade” are used in an inflationary manner in advertising and lifestyle media. The Maker Movement and DIY culture are enormously successful, creating a worldwide hype. Globally operating luxury labels explicitly foreground handicraft as a mark of quality and distinction, in contrast to the reality of locally operating craftspeople struggling for recognition and a fair wage.