The Cutting Edge exhibition is reviewed on behalf of craftscotland by Caroline Ednie.

'Is Scottish Craft Really Scottish?’ asks David Revere McFadden in his lively catalogue essay which accompanies The Cutting Edge: Scotland’s Contemporary Crafts, currently showing at the National Museum of Scotland.  And what is clear is that there is no easy answer on the strength of the hugely diverse range of objects currently on show.  Yet, this is no bad thing, in fact quite the reverse, for it’s the blurry boundaries that actually make this exhibition so exhilarating, and which ultimately affirms that contemporary craft in Scotland is indeed alive and kicking – in different directions, granted - but never missing the mark. 

Featuring thirty makers, nine of whom were commissioned to create new works for the show, The Cutting Edge is a worthy compendium of many different craft strands, and can be seen as a timely culmination of a recent series of successful showcases, including the Scottish Basketmaker’s Circle ‘Pushing the Boundaries’ touring exhibition; as well as North Lands Creative Glass ten year anniversary celebration; and 100% Proof, the excellent jewellery and silversmith exhibition which ended its successful tour run at last year’s Edinburgh Festival.  Indeed many of the makers that featured in these shows also figure prominently at The Cutting Edge. 

Principal amongst these are Lizzie Farey whose huge suspended ‘Heart’ of interwoven willow and fibre-optics is a lively example of the growing trend of combining traditional materials with new digital era media.  Then there’s ‘Aspiration differs when views from new perspectives’, a remarkable, and fairly phallic, glass conglomeration by North Lands founding member Ray Flavell.  And in terms of jewellery and silversmithing they don’t come much more exquisitely executed than Adrian Hope’s beautifully articulated silver and gold box of delights and young maker Andrew Lamb’s tiny Op Art inspired gold gems.

There are also many surprising elements to the exhibition, thus endorsing the exhibition’s ‘Cutting Edge’ aspirations.  Prime examples are Roger Morris and Sara Keith’s unique textile collaboration which involves using the science led approach of electroforming to combine the Japanese Shibori technique with silver.  As a result a unique textile has been created that use silver instead of dye to create pattern and form, thus banishing any twee tartan and tweed expectations.  A strong Japanese influence also runs through Simon Ward’s enigmatic studies in porcelain, lacquer and driftwood, which at the same time as being meticulously detailed also wittily present themselves on a tray featuring Formica reminiscent of granny’s kitchen table of the fifties. 

The sixties, or at least Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd and their psychedelic light shows is one reference that springs to mind when confronted by Stephen Richard’s bold ‘Glass Landscape’.  The gravity defying globular glass landscape explores “colour and the action of lights on glass,” according to Stephen and is a brave piece in terms of scale and ambition.  As is Rachel Hazell’s ‘Landscape Bookwork’.  Here, Hazell has transcended the cosy and intimate environment of her chosen discipline of bookmaking, to apply her skills to a large scale landscape featuring copper ‘leaves’, which on closer inspection describe part of the topography of a Shetland landscape (this piece is at present best experienced down on your hunkers, so it might be good to see it elevated in the subsequent legs of the exhibitions tour?)

Quibbles aside though, Hazell’s ‘Landscape Bookwork’ is one of the few pieces in the exhibition that explicitly references Scottish-ness in its subject matter, which neatly takes us back to the question of ‘How Scottish is Scottish craft’?  Well, if any conclusions can be drawn at all, it is that contemporary craft in Scotland is at the same time highly personal yet international in its scope and influence.  It is also respectful of traditional values, skills and techniques whilst in no way cocking a snoop to any new media interventions.  In other words ‘The Cutting Edge’ is an exhibition of contrasts and challenges and as a result lives up to the ambitious claims of its title.  So, go along and banish any ‘hoots mon’ crafty misconceptions you may still be tenaciously holding on to. 

The Cutting Edge is an exhibition by the National Museums Scotland, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, East Ayrshire Council and Glasgow City Council.   It is accompanied by a publication with photographs by Shannon Tofts.  Published by NMS Enterprises Limited – Publishing.  Price £14.99.

Lizzie Farey, whose work features in The Cutting Edge, will be demonstrating her skills in basketmaking and sculptural techniques on 18 March in the Hawthornden Court of the National Museum of Scotland between 12 noon and 4pm. 

The Cutting Edge is on at the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh from 26 January to 29 April 2007 and will then travel to the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock from 26 May to 30 June 2007, Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow from 20 September to 25 November 2007 and Aberdeen Art Gallery from 9 February to 12 April 2008. 

Find out more about the exhibition from curator Catriona Baird.  

The following interviews with silversmith Adrian Hope, furniture and textile designer Jan Milne and ceramicist Sarah-Jane Selwood discussing their work can be viewed in full at The Cutting Edge exhibition.

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