How nationalist nostalgia for heritage crafts is fuelling Britain’s culture wars

Our cultural heritage has never been more hotly debated than it is right now. We hear about the so-called ‘culture wars’ on a daily basis – one side accused of wilfully resisting the changes needed to achieve social justice, and the other accused of ‘wokeism’, of employing ‘cancel culture’ and of being over-sensitive ‘snowflakes’. Whether or not this conflict is rooted in reality or has been invented for short-term political gain, it’s a battle that’s likely to be with us for some time.

Britain’s heritage has emerged as a major battleground in this conflict. It’s there from the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol to broader debates around the decolonisation of historical assets overseen by bodies such as the National Trust. As the national charity set up to safeguard and celebrate traditional craft skills, we at Heritage Crafts find ourselves firmly within this contested space.

Above: Fresco painter and plaster conservationist Sarah Hocombe at work. Photo: Julian Calder, courtesy of QEST

There are many people for whom traditional craft represents a romanticised view of Britishness or Englishness, tied up with narratives of imperialism and nationalism. It’s easy to conjure the image of a village smithy or wainwright straight out of a Constable painting: a pre- or early-industrial moment insulated – in the imagination, at least – from the politics of acquisition and exploitation. The risk is that heritage craft becomes a nostalgic trope, emblematic of rural idylls, our great industrial past and our identity as a former empire. ‘They don't make things like they used to’ is one of the phrases that make up part of our collective consciousness, but it’s often said by those who are distanced from the day-to-day grit of running a craft business.

Heritage Crafts’ mission is to support and promote traditional craft as a fundamental part of our living heritage. This includes all of us; we all have a heritage. The value of our craft heritage comes from the diversity of skills and traditions across all our communities, wherever they originated and whenever they were brought here from elsewhere. Our remit as a UK charity sometimes puts too much emphasis on national borders, but we are well aware of the movement of people, materials and skills that make up our Red List of Endangered Crafts, and the power structures that have historically underpinned them.

As an NGO accredited by UNESCO, we believe in many of the principles that led to the creation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. These include that cultural practices should be held by the communities in which they are practised, regardless of state boundaries and in resistance to the tendency of governments to co-opt vernacular culture for nation-building or other ends.

Today, we no longer issue a call for all crafts to be preserved just as they are. Craft has always adapted to change: whether that be in technologies, markets or social attitudes. That evolution needs to continue if practices are to survive – some may die out along the way. Our job is to ensure that people are aware of these changes and can have a reasoned debate about what is nurtured or let go.

There may be a few people who would prefer that difficult pasts be forgotten entirely, and erased from existence. But most would rather amplify voices that have been omitted from the creation of a building, object or cultural practice so that they can be heard among the authorised versions of history. As well as bringing hidden voices out of archive, it would also mean taking problematic emblems down from their pedestals of glory and putting them in a new context.

Today, young people in particular are adept at dealing with conversations around equity, social justice and sustainability – but they can't be interested in things that they don't know about. It is our job to make sure that what we do remains current and relevant, rather than mourning a lost past that can never be recovered.

We don’t own the debate about how heritage is defined and we recognise that many people have been (and continue to be) excluded from the debate. Where we can, we want to use our position to give them a voice. If we really want craft skills to survive to the next generation we need more people of all ages and diverse backgrounds to join the craft sector. New entrants and new ideas are crucial and we want to ensure that the high-level skills and knowledge of current craftspeople are transferred in a way that continues to be useful and relevant. Heritage crafts are not dusty old relics and this is not about a misty-eyed vision of the past. This is about a wide variety of skilled people working today to create high quality, beautiful, functional work that adds value to our lives.