On appropriation and craft: considering the feminist problem of de-politicization

Abstract

This article examines the work of Joana Vasconcelos in relation to feminist debates about craft and the role of the artist in relation to her participants/cultural producers. It introduces the work of Carla Cruz's project RASTIHLO and Maria Nepomuceno's Tempo para Respirar (Breathing Time) as providing alternative strategies for co-operative working which rely on skill-sharing and mutually affirming approaches to working with participants in the production of artworks and projects. The political question of appropriation and promotion of individual identity in an international marketplace is at the heart of the feminist debates discussed.