CONTEMPORARY ARTS AND CRAFTS FROM GERMANY EDITOR & AUTHOR- CLAUDIA BANZ TRANSLATIONS BY DOROTHY DODGE- FREITAG

This book features the exhibits of Arts and crafts in German festival of India held during 2000-01.  This was the first time where Arts and crafts were incorporated. Arts and crafts has got great importance as like paintings or sculpting. Indeed, Beauty is the ideal of all the Arts. The collections displayed in the festival were from the various Museums across Germany. Works of Arts and crafts in the form of sliver ware, Jewellery, ceramics, textiles and glass were exhibited.  John Ruskin and William Morris were the intellectual   fathers of English Arts and crafts movement.

GLASS:  In the art of glass work, it was the American Studio glass Movement that spread to Europe in the late sixties which made glass   accessible to freer forms of artistic design such as glass sculpture or objects. The hot technique of glass blowing over a lamp is a principal characteristic of Germany and has a long tradition in Lauscha, in the Thuringian forest. Hubert Koch is a specialist in this field.

CERAMICS; Typical features of German ceramics can be condensed into   ‘’Vessel- Glaze –technique.’’ Germany has always been and still is a ‘Glaze country.’ In 1970’s progress in studio Kilns made porcelain an option as a material for ceramists. Karlfulle went on to discover Baroque art as his ideal of Animation. Fritz Vehring’s work centred on developing the ‘’head’’ theme, which led to Helmets

TEXTILES; Textile art is no longer confined to textile fibres but it expanded to unusual materials such as plastics, rubber, paper or metal wire.  In the 1970’s the motto ‘’Weg von der wand’’ (off the wall) was responsible for a radical change in textile art. Because of this artist began to establish textile art as Interior Art.

SLIVERWARE: For Erhard Hoble - sliver ware is the starting point of all creativity and the creative art rules supreme. The ‘’shape without ornamentation.’’ Theme propagated in the twenties, tying design to functional form; survived longest in the sliver smith’s craft.  Annette Zey set herself the task of an intensive examination of the dish theme, which she tackles from all different angles.

 JEWELLERY: The big inventor among the modern jewellery artists was Fried rich Becker, whose name will always be associated with the development of Kinetic Jewellery. The jewellery of Bernhardfruh reminiscent of African masks, shields or even steel and iron construction. Dorothea Pruhl established a specific ‘Burg style’ in jewellery significant for its command of the use of unusual materials and base metals, its inspiration by nature and the emphasis of sculptural elements.

 Therefore   the exhibits of arts and crafts irrespective of the medium excelled in their own style. Techniques   with rich traditions have asserted themselves and become filled with a new spirit.  ‘’ All that there is to the making of a successful, happy and beautiful life, is the knowledge and application of simple, root principle.’’ – James Allen. This concept is beautifully implied in the Arts and crafts of Germany.

Snippets:
*For Peter Verburg – the pot is one of his favourite vessels.  Jurgen Steinau is known for his knife objects   in sliver.
*Rhomboid and cone shaped cans (brass, tinted, chiselled, lock seams) by Hans Joachim Hartel are famous sliver ware.
*Isgard Moje- Wohlgemuth is well known for her intricate painting on hollow glass, rich in nuances. To her glass symbolises treasure, which she emphasises with a rich palette of shades of gold.
*Multi piece object, box with square decoration, large dish, ‘’oval form’’ vessel, black helmet were the few things that were exhibited in ceramics.
*Michael Becker only uses gold for his jewellery and is dedicated to the traditional desire of perfect proportion, of the pure form and absolute beauty. Dorte Behn closely examines textile installations. She uses untreated linen, woven in one single piece.