PRISS STATEiMENT IHO.
22 December 1972
CRAFTS INQUIRY
The Prime Minister, Mr. Whitlam, has decided to expand
the membership of the Committee of Inquiry into the Crafts to include
practising craftsmen and representatives of crafts in education and
industry. Mr. ' Jhitlam said the Government would take steps to
expedite the work of the committee which was established more than
twelve months ago.
The committee will appoint professional assistants to
help prepare its report to the Government.
The findings of the committee will have an important
bearing on new developments in the crafts field.
The Prime Minister has invited four new members to
join the committee. The present members of the Committee are:-
Mr. K. Bonython ( Chairman)
Mr. E. YTestbrook
Mr. J. Mollison
Hr. F. McCarthy
IMr. C. Last
The new members will be:-
Mr. Tozer
Mr. R. J. Richards Art dealer and member of the
Australian Council for the Arts.
Director of the ilational Gallery
of Victoria and member of the
Industrial design Council of
Australia. Director of the Australian Hational
Gallery. Former Principal of the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
Sculptor and member of the
Commonwealth Art Advisory Board.
Senior Lecturer, Melbourne
College of Education.
President of the Victorian Craft
Association.
Goldsmith. Curator of the historical section
and applied arts, Art Gallery of
South Australia.
Member of the South Australian
Government's steering committee
on design and craft-based industries.
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Mr. Ian Templenan Director of the Fremantle Arts
Centre and former Federal
Secretary of the Australian
Society for Education through Art..
Mrs Marea Gazzard One of Lustralia's leading potters
who is Vice-President of the
Asian Division of the Vorld
Craft Council.
Ir, % Thitlam said the Committee of Inquiry would present
to the Government at the earliest possible date a report on the
present situation of craftsmen and crafts organisations in Australia,
on ways in which they might be assisted, and on irays of extending
interest and activity in the crafts throughout the community.
In this respect it was essential to have on the Committee
people with special knowledge of the crafts and their place in
education, their role in leisure and their uses in industry.
In giving high priority to action of the crafts, the
Government acknowledges the special pleasure which the crafts
bring to thousands of Australians. There is at present a great
revival of interest in weaving, and pottery, leather and metalwork,
carving and glasswork and other craft forms. LMany young people
who seek beyond the pressures and products of modern urban life a
more personal and satisfying life style are particularly attracted
by them. Their combination of creative ideas and technical skills
suggests further links to people whose working background gives
them a special knowledge of handling materials and applying
techniques. The trade unions in their earliest form grew out
of the guilds of craftsmen who in past centuries took a special
pride in their work and its standards.
CANBERRA. A. C. T.