Intermediary (Issue 01)
Oddany Gallery,
Melbourne
22 - 23 May 2026
Curated by Frances Waite & Ellen Waite
Craft, in the social media age, has become somewhat synonymous with the side-hustle, etsy-seller, freelance entrepreneur whose artwork is first and foremost a product. Taking advantage of the assumed authenticity and virtuosity of hand-made objects, for-profit craft practices can avoid culpability for their unethical resourcing and production, while pushing a kind of wholesome individualism. In fact the perceived authenticity of handicraft cannot be divorced from "complex legacies of cultural imperialism, appropriation, and fetishisation of indigenous cultural works as untainted by civilisation." In a sense, many of these contemporary craft practices have been used to weave together a neoliberal utopian dreamscape that promises artists financial stability while failing to challenge the systems reproducing labour inequality.22 - 23 May 2026
Curated by Frances Waite & Ellen Waite
This is not the first time craft has been an instrument in the unsuccessful pursuit of utopia. The arts and craft movement of the late 19th century emerged in rapidly industrialised Britain with a sincere intent to lead a counter-revolution through fine craftsmanship. Initially grounded in socialist theory, the movement's ethos manifested as a select group of artists and artisans producing work to "mask the horrors of industrialism beneath the veneer of art". William Morris, whose intellectual and financial contributions formed the foundation of the arts and craft movement, later described the bulk of his efforts as "nothing but make believe."
But craft is not simply a shimmering, ideologically unsubstantive practice used to dress up an unsuccessful workers movement, or as an additional stream of income. It is the very fact that craft as a practice is so intangible and hard to pin down that gives it the uncanny ability to "hover between sensory experience and fixed object." While the legacies of arts and craftsmanship have been co-opted for individualist purposes, these legacies are also grounded in a long history of collective practices.
Drawing on the dual definitions of 'intermediary' - as a mediator, and an indeterminate stage - this publication embraces the messy and maladjusted borders between disciplines. Instead of attempting to erase the distinctions between art, craft and design practices and the histories that produced these groupings, Intermediary expands upon existing sites of collaboration between creative practitioners. In this issue of Intermediary, we consider failed utopias and handicraft.
Photos by Kim Feng, Clarke Gamboni, Lola Adami