Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A research symposium organized by Antonia Behan (Queens University; BGC MA ’14, PhD ’21)
Inspired by the British designer, craftsman, poet, and socialist William Morris (1834–98), the Arts and Crafts movement was a varied and ambitious set of values and practices reacting against mid-nineteenth-century industrialization, capitalism, and imperialism. It asserted the social value of making, challenged the hierarchy of fine and decorative arts, defended the livelihoods of artisans, and promoted the preservation of skilled knowledge. But the ambition, pugnacity, and passion of the Arts and Crafts movement was not limited to a single place or time. Although Arts and Crafts is often regarded as quintessentially British, its setting within the context of empire cannot be ignored, nor can its vexed relation to the very systems of globalizing power that were its central concerns. This symposium takes a topic and a figure familiar to all audiences of traditional decorative arts and design, but opens these to a radically new, global, diverse, and innovative perspective.
Featuring talks by: Antonia Behan, Meghen Jones, Louise Yu-Jui Yang, Paul Stirton, Sohee Ryuk, Michał Burdziński, Amanda Thompson, and Wendy Kaplan.
A research symposium organized by Antonia Behan (Queens University; BGC MA ’14, PhD ’21)
Inspired by the British designer, craftsman, poet, and socialist William Morris (1834–98), the Arts and Crafts movement was a varied and ambitious set of values and practices reacting against mid-nineteenth-century industrialization, capitalism, and imperialism. It asserted the social value of making, challenged the hierarchy of fine and decorative arts, defended the livelihoods of artisans, and promoted the preservation of skilled knowledge. But the ambition, pugnacity, and passion of the Arts and Crafts movement was not limited to a single place or time. Although Arts and Crafts is often regarded as quintessentially British, its setting within the context of empire cannot be ignored, nor can its vexed relation to the very systems of globalizing power that were its central concerns. This symposium takes a topic and a figure familiar to all audiences of traditional decorative arts and design, but opens these to a radically new, global, diverse, and innovative perspective.
Featuring talks by: Antonia Behan, Meghen Jones, Louise Yu-Jui Yang, Paul Stirton, Sohee Ryuk, Michał Burdziński, Amanda Thompson, and Wendy Kaplan.
