Crafting a New Myth , An initiative by Rainbow Craft Collective for queering our crafts.
For queer artists, who belong to a social group which has traditionally been marginalised, it is possibly unsurprising that there has been a desire to adopt the similarly marginalised art form of craft. Queer identity has had a short and wildly changing history formation, and craft. Craft has been repeatedly linked to the personal, the political and the heterogeneously handmade, which makes it an ideal agent for queer.
This collective explores how queer (theory and studies) and its relationship to contemporary art and craft practice in order to explore whether, and how, objects can be visually identified as queer or be used to queer spaces or collections of objects It interrogates whether it is possible to identify queer characteristics, aesthetics and themes in crafted objects and develops the ideas.
Queering Mythology, Queer Mythology, Mythologizing Queerness
Craft was adopted as part of feminist art practice not only due to its rejection by the art world establishment, but also for its gendered associations. The contemporary use of the word craft – relating it to makers and making of objects. Direct links between craft and queer were yet to be developed, but this period saw the linking, through the aestheticism of Wilde, of interior decoration and the decorative with homosexual men.
Rainbow Craft Collective combines queer aesthetics and culture with traditional art. It creates the wave that has revolutionized the contemporary crafts of Bangladesh. Their works are also inspired by the Patachitra's (traditional folk) drawings and lifestyles. They hold a vision for the queer aspirant who hears the call to the inner soul, to find healing, empowerment, strength, and pride through their craft.
