Crafting Sustainability: Handcraft in Contemporary Art and Cultural Sustainability in the Finnish Lapland

Abstract

Abstract:Crafting sustainability is discussed here with respect to the dimensions of handcraft traditions in contemporary art for promoting cultural sustainability in the Scandinavian North. Aspects of decolonization, cultural revitalisation, and intergenerational dialogue form an integral part of the negotiations around the need for cultural survival and renewal for a more sustainable future. These dimensions should also be considered in the development of the current education of art teachers. Learning traditional skills and applying them in contemporary art constitute an influential method when striving for cultural sustainability. This study examines three handcraft-based contemporary art cases through art-based action research conducted in the Finnish and the Swedish Lapland. The results show that handcraft-based contemporary art practices with place-specific intergenerational and intercultural approaches create an open space for dialogue where the values and the perceptions on cultural heritage can be negotiated.Keywords: sustainable culture; cultural sustainability; art education for sustainability; informal education Handcraft and Art as Catalysts for Cultural SustainabilityIn the University of Lapland, long-term action research has been conducted to support the sustainable development of the Arctic though place-specific artistic activities in remote regions [1][2][3]. This is in line with the rising interest in rewriting the forgotten cultural history of the Finnish Lapland [4,5] and with the growing interest in using the arts as a representation of the North [6,7]. Finding solutions to both regional and cultural challenges requires sensitive approaches, expertise in various disciplines, collaborative research, communality, and international cooperation. The questions are tightly connected to cultural identities, which in turn, are often constructed through art. Art is invariably the renewing and the strengthening element of cultures [1].This article discusses how recreating old handcraft traditions with contemporary art methods both revitalizes and reconstructs culture. While following the traditions of artistic research and action research, the authors aim to promote the use of handcraft while researching it. Cultural sustainability is examined through cultural continuation, reconstruction, and locality in the context of the Finnish Lapland. These aspects of cultural sustainability are linked to strengthening cultural identity [8], cultural revitalisation [9], and decolonization [10] of small northern communities through place-specific approaches [1,11]. As art educators, the authors also discuss cultural sustainability through educational aspects, and the research setting is in informal education that takes place in rural villages and small communities in northern Finland and elsewhere in the Arctic. The authors argue that learning traditional skills and applying them in contemporary art comprise an influential method when striving for cultural sustainability. Dessein et al. [12] discuss eco-culture ...

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