RosettaStone: CRAFT A primary, secondary, and annotated source reader for functional craft. By: Randi O'Brien

This is an annotated evaluation of the following:
The Culture of Craft: Status and Future edited by Peter Dormer
Peter Dormer, ed. The Culture of Craft: Status and Future (New York: Manchester University Press, 1997)

Reviewed by Randi O’Brien

The Culture of Craft: Status and Future written by critic, curator, and author Peter Dormer, brings together discussions on the relevance of craft theory and philosophy . Dormer presents an boulevard for craftsmen to build into their dialogue positions and meaning that make craft essential in historical and current society. My overall impression is that the author has compile a collection of scholars and makers that articulately and engagingly push the development of craft theory forward as well as support concerns and issues within the crafting field.

In this book, Dormer has relied on historians, makers, scholars, and his own writings to develop three themes: The Status of Craft, The Challenge of Technology, and Writing About the Crafts. Craftsmen would find this article useful for the contemporary development of craft significance within society as well as useful for the perpetual concerns that continue to arise in craft discourse. Readers would benefit from Dormers collection by means of theory development and by means of looking for the critical questions that have build crafts foundations yet are still unanswered and should be addressed in twenty-first century craft theory. (I have further reviewed specific articles from Dormers collection; please see the following annotations within The Culture of Craft)