Gallery Director and Chair of Museums Australia Art Craft Design Special Interest Group, Debbie Abraham was joined by, website designer Stephen Goddard of Stephen Goddard Design, Brian Parkes Associate Director, Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design and Avi Amesbury, Communications Manager at Craft Australia to launch the much anticipated website Promote Contemporary Craft.

I would like to extend apologies from Catrina Vignando, who is unable to make it today. Catrina was very much looking forward to being here to celebrate the launch of Promote Contemporary Craft.

Craft Australia is the national peak advocacy and lobby organisation for Australian contemporary craft and design. We have a small, but productive, team - Belinda Jessup coordinates our online calendars and campaigns, Julie Ryder is our Financial Administrator and Jenny Deves, our Research Officer, has been instrumental in the National Craft Mapping Project report and is currently working on the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian craft program and the Slide Collection Archive project.

Julie, Belinda and I are all practicing artists, contributing to a healthy balance between the world of administration and that of making. Catrina has also had formal training as a maker with a background in textiles.

Craft Australia has a regional, national and international focus and is a member of the network Australian Craft and Design Centres - known as ACDC. The network includes organisations in each of the states and territories. They are all highly professional and run a variety of diverse and significant programs. Time limits me to a very brief overview of the organisations and some of their programs:

Object, in Sydney, run an innovative national exhibition program. Their successes have exposed contemporary Australian craft and design to new audiences and venues nationally, and developing programs that give an Australian presence in an international arena. Woven Forms: Contemporary basket weaving in Australia; Freestyle: new Australian design for living; and Living Treasures: Masters of Australian craft is to mention just three.

Craft Victoria, in Melbourne, is a membership based organisations and runs a number of highly successful programs, including exhibitions, the Scarf Festival and Craft CULTURE. In 2004 they embarked upon The South Project - an undertaking of mammoth proportions - developing craft networks across the southern hemisphere.

FORM, in Western Australia have undertaken programs that redefine cultural policy and revisit the idea of 'city', programs such as "Thinker in Residence" and "Creative Capital". They run a significant Indigenous program and have just been awarded a Visions Grant for Cross-Country: Canning Stock Route.

JamFactory, in Adelaide are leaders in the training and development of professional practitioners and run highly successful retail spaces. They manage the International Craft Initiative, Australian Contemporary, presenting work of established artists at SOFA Chicago, USA; Collect, UK and Talente in Munich.

Craft ACT has just launched their new website which has a focus on their professional members - they have an extensive public and exhibition program that fits well with the Capital's social framework. Artisan, in Queensland, are presenting craft and design in the Creative Industries dialogue; Craftsouth, South Australia, provides professional membership to practitioners and a referral service connecting retail, art in public spaces and exhibitions to makers. Design Centre - Tasmania have a highly developed exhibition and tour program. Territory Craft's programs span huge distances that cover Darwin, Katherine, Barkley and Alice Springs.

All the organisations manage extensive projects and programs, and I have mentioned just a few, giving a sense of the breadth and scope of the sector.

The role of Craft Australia is to advocate on behalf of the sector. We do this through a variety of strategic initiatives and today I will talk briefly about our online programs, highlighting some of the success. The two programs I would like to mention today are our electronic newsletter - 716 online news and the 2006 online forum, Youth@craft·design.

716 online news is a free publication and is sent to subscribers monthly. It is a vehicle to communicate with the sector and to market Australian contemporary craft and design nationally and overseas.

Through feature articles in 716 we are able to make visible and promote the diverse range of programs, exhibitions and talent within Australia. The newsletter informs the sector of current advocacy and political issues; general news from the sector; national exhibitions, projects, conferences, festivals and opportunities.

The success of 716 is highlighted by the growth in subscriptions - increasing from 388 in 2003 to over 2000 in 2007 and attracts a growing international audience.

The 716 online calendars are high on the list of our most accessed resources - Belinda is here today if you would like to know more about our calendar program. Belinda and I also have some Craft Australia promotion cards that will lead you into our online programs, if interested.

The second is the national online forum. In August 2006 Craft Australia launched its second online forum, Youth@craft·design, targeting youth and emerging makers - the forum identified new pathways to sustainable practices in the arts and covered areas such as marketing, manufacture and export.

A component of the site was the online gallery showcasing the work of students and emerging artists - Craft Australia invited practitioners to participate in the program.

A significant outcome of the online gallery was that we were approached by a number of national and international galleries for the contact details of makers involved in the program.

The reason I mention these two programs, in particular, is to highlight that Promote, being launched today, is a welcomed addition to a dynamic sector and is innovative in its approach to promoting contemporary craft - it works. Craft Australia extends congratulations to Debbie and staff at Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery.

Avi Amesbury
Communications Manager, Craft Australia
July, 2007