Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

I. Scope
has the status of women artists and
How
feminine art forms changed
traditionally
the past century? Peaking in 1910 in
over
the Arts and Crafts movement was
Europe,
aesthetic and labour response to the
an
Revolution, spreading from the
Industrial
Kingdom to North America, Japan
United
Australia. It raised the question of the
and
of handmade versus mass-produced
quality
and the value of traditional artisanry
objects,
craftsmanship versus mechanical
and
It concerned objects of high
manufacturing.
value that were nonetheless functional,
artistic
drew attention to ideas of design and
and
movement valued the intimacy of work,
The
opposed to the alienation of people from
as
under industrialism, and elevated this
work
form of creative work to the dignity
particular
of this should have resulted in elevating
All
status of women creatives, but alas that
the
not to be. The role of women in the
was
and Crafts movement was ultimately a
Arts
on the one hand, it invited women
paradox;
produce and be paid for artistic handicrafts
to
homemade goods, but on the other, despite
and
significant involvement, women remained
their
and the most celebrated
underrecognized,
influential figures associated with the
and
“her-stories” of the Arts and Crafts
Several
have been published in the last
movement
decades to rectify the narrative of this
few
episode in art history. The Arts
particular
Craft movement had the potential to
and
women’s artistic work. But what do
elevate
know about the status and prominence
we
women in art today? In 1971, art historian
of
Nochlin wrote an essay posing the
Linda
“Why Have There Been No Great
question
Artists?” More than half a century
Women
the Arts and Crafts movement, this was
after
a valid question. Art historians argue that
still
was the Feminist Art movement, starting
it
the 1960s, that really began to elevate the
in
of women artists, women’s artwork,
status
creative knowledge and the female
their
in the art world.
perspective
10
Box 10.1: Artwork, artisanry and women creatives
movement are men.
aesthetics.
of fine art.
The feminist activist art collective, Guerilla Girls, periodically tallies the number of women artists and female nudes on
Figure 10.2
exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This poster, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?, is from 2012.
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