British Vision Issue 14 欧洲最大的工艺品展

Think of crafts and perhaps corn dollies and threaded baskets come to mind. But now the annual COLLECT craft fair has opened at London's Victoria and Albert Museum and it's a very classy affair. On offer are, ceramics¹, glass, textiles, silverware that can cost thousands. While the applied² art is gaining culture cachet, the Crafts Council, the organization which is paid to promot it, is hitting more turbulent times. Our arts correspondent Nicholas Glass has this.

A vaccine³ and never-harder thing to define, the "C" word craft, and compared with Damine, Tracy and Dinos (艺术家，ph)its practitioners⁴ are relatively⁵ ignored. Things are hand-made, decorative⁶ sometimes, but not always functional⁷, and of course unique. When is it craft, and when is it art? Lines have been blurring⁸ for a long while.

I suppose my interest in craft is that the very best people who work within craft or seem to be doing really quite divergent things. There's no/ sort of the whole merchant's definition any more about crafts, not a life style thing. It's not an antique, fine art thing, um. It's not a discipline that defines itself in terms of the home; it's none of these things. It includes some of those things but none of those things in its entirety. (But its meaning has changed.)Its meaning has changed. Its meaning has changed and it's changing.

These are stimulating⁹ and confusing times for makers¹⁰, sellers and promotors of these objects of desire. Here we have COLLECT--The 3rd year run in a selling fair within the wards¹¹ of the V&A(Victoria and Albert Museum ) in the sector¹² of craft work version of freeze. And yet the Crafts Council which organizes the fair and is supposed to give a lead is in restructuring limbo¹³. It's between directors. Its exhibition space and shop in Northern London are to close, and it won't be handing out its annual Jerwood Prize this year.

Is there an institutional support, Crafts Council, Arts Council support for crafts?

There's some. It's not focused. It's not well delivered, but there is some, some, um, support, yes. Interestingly enough, things like COLLECTt actually show you just how good things are and how much more support needs to be, supports need to be in the sector. The problem is that Crafts Council in particular has been out of focus and off message for a very long time and hasn't really lived up to it's briefing to actually support the very best of craft.

Like Edmund de Waal, Julian Stair is one of our leading potters. He made these porcelain¹⁴ teapot and cups. He is currently interim¹⁵ chairman of the Crafts Council.

So this precise moment is kind of like a vacuum of leadership.

Um, I wouldn't say that's a vacuum of leadership because we have a new chairman coming in and that would be very shortly announced. And the director's search is under way and we also have, you know, a good new series of partnerships¹⁶ which are, which have started to really define our our new strategy.

Will hearing this instill confidence? We shall see. At least COLLECT gives crafts a higher profile for a few days. There are 42 galleries form Europe, Japan and Australia. From Denmark for example, a sovereign interpretation¹⁷ in miniature of the Contiki(ph) Expedition. According to a new and somewhat impenetrable arts council report, more of us like crafts than contemporary art.

If, if you have a collecting bug¹⁸, it's an excuse to go on and collect more, and also there is a whole fabulous¹⁹ market out there which if you've only really ooked at the pictures, um, you know it's waiting to be discovered.

We apparently²⁰ acquire some 5 million craft objects every year, one or two will be picked up over the next few days of Collect including Dark Glass(ph),the odd teapot.

Nicholas Glass. We will leave craft. Of More4 News is on display at 8.

1 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 decorative   

adj.装饰的，可作装饰的

参考例句：

• This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
• The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽，而且装饰效果很好。

7 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

8 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

9 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

10 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

12 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

13 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

14 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

15 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

16 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

17 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

18 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

19 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。