Since its origins in 1967, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has gained worldwide recognition as a model for the research and public presentation of living cultural heritage and the advocacy of cultural democracy. Festival curators play a major role in interpreting the Festival's principles and shaping its practices. Curatorial Conversations brings together for the first time in one volume the combined expertise of the Festival's curatorial staff - past and present - in examining the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage's representation practices and their critical implications for issues of intangible cultural heritage policy, competing globalisms, cultural tourism, sustainable development and environment, and cultural pluralism and identity. In the volume, edited by the staff curators Olivia Cadaval, Sojin Kim, and Diana Baird N'Diaye, contributors examine how Festival principles, philosophical underpinnings, and claims have evolved, and address broader debates on cultural representation from their own experience. This book represents the first concerted project by Smithsonian staff curators to examine systematically the Festival's institutional values as they have evolved over time and to address broader debates on cultural representation based on their own experiences at the Festival.

A new practical guide to dividing (indexing) in the workshop. Whether new to the process or looking to enhance your skills, this book will introduce you to a range of dividing methods and explains how to achieve the best results both with and without specialist dividing tools. With step-by-step instructions and photography throughout, this new book explains dividing with the 'coordinate method' and using the lathe; dividing with gears and dividing plates; using the dividing head, the rotary table and the spin indexer; electronic dividing methods and finally a range of case studies to show application of practical techniques.

Master the art and craft of metal jewelry making in your own home studio Great jewelry is original, well-designed, and -- with the right tools -- can be created at home by the aspiring artist. "The Jeweler's Studio Handbook "guides you through the process of equipping your own jewelry studio and teaches you the techniques that will have you crafting one-of-a-kind metal jewelry in no time.Artist Brandon Holschuh walks you through planning your work space, selecting tools and materials, mastering basic metalwork techniques, and applying your new skills to twenty original pieces. In addition, "The Jeweler's Studio Handbook "encourages novel design, good organization and fearless experimentation, ensuring it will remain an invaluable resource for jewelry artists for years to come.Invites you into the world of the home jewelry artist, from workbench to galleryTeaches fundamental jewelry-making techniques -- hammering, soldering, riveting, and more -- in full-color photographsIllustrates the steps for crafting twenty beautiful pieces of metalwork jewelry, including rings, bracelets, earrings, and pendantsFeatures gallery-quality jewelry from dozens of contributing artists

Contemporary craft, art and design are inseparable from the flows of production and consumption under global capitalism. The New Politics of the Handmade features twenty-three voices who critically rethink the handmade in this dramatically shifting economy. The authors examine craft within the conditions of extreme material and economic disparity; a renewed focus on labour and materiality in contemporary art and museums; the political dimensions of craftivism, neoliberalism, and state power; efforts toward urban renewal and sustainability; the use of digital technologies; and craft's connections to race, cultural identity and sovereignty in texts that criss-cross five continents. They claim contemporary craft as a dynamic critical position for understanding the most immediate political and aesthetic issues of our time.