 The expression “ Arts and Crafts” is so widely accepted by the general public that it would be useless for us to employ another term. It is recognized by the Ministry of Culture, and seems to be so by today’s specialists as well. A consensus has been reached, based on socio-professional criteria: the means of production, the destination of the production, and the type of enterprise.
Art and crafts share common denominators, their manual production and their relation to the raw materials they work on.
Though the particular nature of each craft is grounded in its own tradition, its repetition of ancestral techniques and movements by no means excludes creativity.
Traditional crafts design objects for predefined uses. Items that are unique or produced in small numbers possess a decorative character that contributes to the identity of the profession. The final criterion, the reference to the craft work status of the enterprise, must, however, be nuanced.
Whereas small and very small enterprises account for the greater part of the arts and craft production, the excellent quality of the implementation of traditional know-how by the luxury goods industry has qualified them as members of this closed family circle.
The GRETA for the Applied Arts prepares trainees, through differently structured programs, for careers in: Woodworking : cabinet making, marquetry, seating woodwork, finishing, ornamental sculpturing; Furnishing: upholstering, decoration designing ; Metalworking : engraving, ornamental or relief sculpturing, artistic metal turning, bronze settings, the art of jewellery, furniture restoration; Textile : embroidery, tapestry, weaving ; Ceramics : ceramics, stained-glass windows ; Frescos, mosaics, lacquer.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS:
The Greta for the Applied Arts will, in the near future and with the participation of the European Social Funds, open a resource pole centred on the arts and crafts. Its use will be reserved to the trainees of the Greta for the Applied Arts and to its teaching and administrative personnel.
This will enable trainees to take advantage of supervised self-training programs in different domains, such as finding employment in the arts and crafts, taking over or creating a craft work enterprise, compiling a press book or even proposing guided tours of museums. They will also be able to consult specialized reviews and a documentary monitoring on arts and crafts.
The opening date of the resource centre was planned for March the 23rd 2005.
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