June 2024

Say hello once more to the Research and Policy brief! Following on from the General Election, we will be watching our new government closely, to see if they will address the tumultuous state of arts and craft education, as well as the impact that the last few years has had on the cultural sector at large.

Scroll below to read the full brief, where we will uncover the following:

• Evidence that more people are enjoying craft - but inequalities persist 
• Ratifying the UN Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage 
• Council spending on culture
• The decline in craft exports
• The value of craft in education and development
• And more!

Continue scrolling below to unpick the above themes in more detail.

More people are doing craft - but inequalities persist

Between 2021-23 research has shown that participation in craft activities has grown tenfold. The DCMS participation survey displayed an increase in craft exhibition attendance from 5 to 11%, whilst there was also growth in craft activity from 15 to 20%. This contrasts greatly to the nationwide figures for participation in arts more generally, which has fallen by 14%. It’s interesting to see that within this climate our appetite for craft continues to grow.

(Note that DCMS changed its approach in 2021 so data cannot be compared with previous years. However the earlier survey also showed a gradual increase in crafts attendance and activity.)

However, whilst the craft sector has seen a positive resurgence in activity, findings from a new Creative PEC report have highlighted the inequalities that persists across gender, ethnicity and social class in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Key findings include:

• Disabled people are more likely to participate in crafts than any other arts, culture and heritage activities (with the exception of fine art and writing) (fig.7 p28).
• More than twice as many women as men participate in crafts and more women than men go to craft exhibitions (figure 10, p32).
• White people engage in craft more than other ethnic groups with Black or Black British people engaging the least (p36).
• Those in managerial or professional roles were more likely to have engaged in almost all categories of activity. (Slightly more ‘intermediate level’ people engaged in crafts than those at managerial or professional levels but the numbers aren’t seen as statistically significant see fig.16 p40).
• Every single arts, culture and heritage occupation had a smaller percentage of heterosexual workers than the average across the general workforce.

Other key resources that outline important demographic information include:

• Visual Art South West’s survey of artists and artworkers which highlights the barriers renting studio space, cost of living, confidence, caring responsibilities and more can create.
• The Centre for Cultural Values has published a how-to guide, offering practical advice on how to amplify underrepresented voices. This draws on Dr Karen Patel’s work on the Craft Expertise programme in collaboration with Crafts Council.

The UK government has ratified the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage

Last month saw the UK Government ratify the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ encompasses ‘traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors’, this includes but is not limited to traditional craft skills, rituals, performing arts, oral traditions and more. Read our response to the government consultation and how to define ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ here.

We are hoping that this important move for crafts will now be on the new government’s agenda.

Council spending on culture goes down

An analysis by The Guardian shows that real term council spending per head on cultural services has been cut by 43% since 2010. The Local Government Association have highlighted how nearly half of councils have cut back on culture, events and tourism with Arts Professional finding that 54% of respondents’ local authorities had cut direct funding to arts and culture. The new National Alliance for Cultural Services brings together representative groups from local government to champion and support the future of local cultural services and the organisations that run them.  

In turn, council cuts to arts budgets have left charitable trusts and foundation ‘overwhelmed’ with applications, as arts and culture organisations scramble to source alternative income.

Craft exports decline

A recent report by Creative PEC State of the Nations has shown a decline in craft exports compared to other creative sub-sectors, falling from 20% in 2013 to nearly 10% by 2022. Unsurprisingly the report cites both the 2016 Brexit referendum and the post-pandemic period as events which contributed to sharp declines.* However, this falls within a backdrop which has seen an increase elsewhere, with creative service exports improving between 2010-2021, despite the huge changes that we might have seen otherwise.

*Larger firms were disproportionately represented in the sample so the report suggests this may not be an indication of the sector as a whole.

A new report released by Erskine Analysis and the University of the Arts has called for the introduction of a ‘Soft Power Council’ chaired by the Foreign Secretary. Comprising artists, organisations and business that represent the diversity of making across the UK, the council would convene with the aim to boost creative exports and solidify the UK’s soft power advantage.

The Scottish Government has published its first International Culture Strategy to help reach new audiences and markets. It describes how the export of textiles, crafts, visual art and physical copies of literature and music provide vital revenue for much of the sector. It calls for free movement of creative professionals between the UK and EU and for the UK to rejoin European programmes like Creative Europe.  

For help with selling and showcasing work overseas see Crafts Council’s guidance.

What matters in creative education?

New evidence from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has show that educational achievement was significantly better in children who had access to a Sure Start Centre between birth and five. Introduced in 1999, Sure Start provided holistic support to families with children under the age of five in England. This included access to craft and making, and details the positive impact that expressive arts can have on development.

The Cultural Learning Alliance says the school accountability system should be reformed so that it no longer adversely impacts expressive arts subjects. They are calling for changes to student assessment as outlined in CLA’s Rethinking Assessment as well as an end to the English Baccalaureate and reforming Progress 8. In addition, CLA’s new Report Card calls for a minimum four-hour arts entitlement within the school week until the end of Key Stage 3 as well as extra-curricular expressive arts opportunities at all stages and phases of schooling.

Meanwhile Edge Foundation have released their ‘Bacc to the Drawing Board’ series which explores different pathways for post-16 education encompassing a blend of academic, technical and vocational options.

Manifestos have been launched by both CHEAD (The Council of Higher Education in Art & Design) and Creative UK. Both are calling for long term creative education plans which will nurture the talent pipeline that feed our creative economy.

Lastly whilst there have been cuts across the sector, British universities are still among the best in the world for studying the arts, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024. 

The role of craft in improving cognition

The New York Times (paywall) has reviewed the benefits that working with your hands has on the brain. A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2021) showed that learning to knit produced significant improvements in cognition and perceived stress in cancer survivors within just 8 weeks.  Another in the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy (2019) looks at the value of knitting in the lives of passionate knitters and their experience of how knitting contributes to health, wellbeing, and occupational identity.

Facing climate change and conflict

The new issue of Craft Research 15.1 explores different cultural and environmental forms of sustainability in the face of crises, including climate change and conflict, revealing how craft reconnects and sustains us as humans. It is now available from Intellect Books. 

The value of research in convening cultural organisations

The value of research on the cultural sectors and the role art organisations have to play was reviewed in NCACE’s REF 2021: Research Impact and the Arts and Culture Sectors report. The key takeaway of this report was the positive impact research had in convening organisations, funders and artists. Of the featured case studies, 69% had multiple formal partners, with Arts Council England being the most prolific. 37% of these case studies worked with external artistic practitioners, amplifying research through cultural leadership and community engagement.

Museums and galleries tax reliefs is made permanent

Theatre, orchestra and museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs are now permanent, with non-touring, touring and orchestral rates set at 40% and 45% from 1 April 2025.  

And lastly…

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland consulted on its new ten-year strategy (2024 to 2034). It’s intended to create a more financially stable and inclusive arts sector with three-year funding cycles.  

Hospital Rooms has announced Digital Art School, a three-year nationwide arts programme to provide artist-led digital workshops and free art materials to every NHS inpatient mental health site in England. 

The Creative PEC has launched a Research Fellows Network to grow the evidence base and inform policies to support the growth and sustainability of the creative industries. The Network includes former Crafts Council Chair Professor Geoffrey Crossick, as well as Crafts Council research partners, including Mark Spilsbury. 

The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and the British Council have set up a new Global Creative Economy Council to identify and discuss emerging trends in creative economic practice and policy worldwide.