Creative Industries: Craft Entrepreneurship Book Launch

This event launches the book Craft Entrepreneurship edited by Dr. Annette Naudin and Dr. Karen Patel.

Dr Katherine Champion (University of Stirling) Smoothing out the peaks and troughs – examining the sustainability strategies of island-based craft entrepreneurs

This presentation takes as its focus an exploration of the everyday experiences of craft workers in island geographies and how they adapt and manage their activities in distinct, informal and, arguably, entrepreneurial ways. Focusing on craft entrepreneurs active in the Northern Isles of Scotland, some of the specific challenges and complexities they faced are examined as well as the techniques they have adopted in an effort to reduce their precarious status. It reflects on whether such practices might contribute to a distinctive conception of craft entrepreneurship in non-urban locations with unique modes of developing, organising and sustaining craft enterprise beyond the city.

Dr. Lauren England (University of Dundee) “I can’t put that out there as me”: Creative identity, Intellectual Property and contemporary craft online

Recent work on craft micro-entrepreneurship has highlighted the importance of finding and expressing a distinctive personal voice to attract and communicate with audiences and consumers, particularly when using online retail platforms and social media. In this presentation, Dr Lauren England will discuss her research with early-career contemporary craft makers and the links between this expression of creative identity and intellectual property (IP). This includes the development of a recognizable style or “fingerprint”, strategies for addressing copying, and the challenges that arise for new craft entrepreneurs in representing and marketing their work online. While craft work is not often associated with the generation and exploitation of IP, she argues this it is an important consideration for craft makers operating in increasingly competitive markets (on and offline) and in connection with how craft is understood and positioned within the wider Creative Industries context, as this has implications for training, business advice and policies to support sustainable sector development.

About the speakers:

Dr.Katherine Champion is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication and Programme Director for the MSc Media Management at the University of Stirling, Scotland. She is an interdisciplinary scholar of the Cultural and Creative Industries whose work is concerned with the intersections of creativity, place and work. She is currently leading the RSE-funded project ‘Mapping Ecologies of Care in Creative Hubs during Covid-19’ and is particularly interested in creative and cultural work beyond global centres of activity.

Dr Lauren England is a Baxter Fellow in Creative Economies at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee. She is interested in cultural and creative work, sustainable creative business development focusing on craft and design, and emerging creative economies in Africa. Lauren has published research on craft higher-education and early-career entrepreneurship, the evolution of craft knowledge in post-industrial regions and creative economies in Africa. She is currently researching the impact of Covid-19 on urban creative economies and creative workers.