PASTORALA IDEAL INOM SLÖJD En idéanalys av utställningen Efter haveriet

Abstract

This study deals with the pastoral aspects of handicraft. Pastorals can be described as putting the complex into the simple or as a myth between what life is and what life could be. The aim is to use the exhibition Efter haveriet as a starting point to examine and analyze the pastoral ideal of handicraft. Efter haveriet was produced by Slöjdkollektivet in 2008 and the exhibition statement is about a civilisation in ruins where Slöjdkollektivet start to build a new existence using simple tools and material at hand. The outcome is handcrafted object showed at the exhibition. The material of this study consists of the exhibition statement of Efter haveriet and photos of the objects together with literature within the field of modernization, criticism of modernization and pastoral ideals. The literature is used to theorize and nuance the ideas of Efter haveriet from a the modernization critic, pastoral and post-pastoral perspective. The aim of the method is to examine where in the modernization critic idea tradition Efter haveriet appears. The results shows that Efter haveriet on the surface is not a traditional pastoral. The idyll and the traditional beauty is not present, neither the unproblematic existens. Despite that the exhibition statement is using a pastoral composition pattern and the objects is a tangible mix between nature and culture. The exhibition is rather joining a post-pastoral idea where complex questions about the nature-human relationship and the survival of our species is in focus. The conclusion is that handicraft is a synthesis between culture and nature, and crafting is a method where cultivation of nature takes place tangibly. At the same time, it turn against modernization by sticking to production patterns that were common in a home environment before industrialization. This intermediate position makes handicraft pastoral. Pastoral theory is a way to nuance and deepen the language of handicraft.