Event overview
Abstract: Woodworking presents constant challenge and mastering the craft demands a persistent willingness to learn and develop. A woodworker’s skill is measured by his or her ability to creatively respond, problem solve and
incorporate new information into their working processes. Design and making, therefore, are skills that grow in response to, and in relation with, the total working environment of tools, machinery, materials, fellow carpenters
and clients. This theme is central to Marchand's investigation. Design and making, as interrelated skills, evolve in unforeseen ways, producing unique solutions to problems that gradually come to be associated with individual ‘style’. But skill-based knowledge does not merely grow and develop. Like
the organic properties of the timber they work, skill, too, is susceptible to deterioration and decline. The final section of his paper explores the impact of aging, injury and illness on tool-wielding practices, and the re-skilling strategies devised by those determined to remain active in their cherished trade.
Biography: Trevor Marchand studied and practiced architecture (BSc McGill), and received a PhD in anthropology from SOAS, University of London, where he is
Professor of Social Anthropology. He has conducted fieldwork with masons in South Arabia and West Africa, and most recently with woodworkers and furniture makers in the UK. He is the author of Minaret Building & Apprenticeship in Yemen, The Masons of Djenné and The Pursuit of Pleasurable
Work (forthcoming), and co-producer of the documentary film Future of Mud.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Oct 2011 | 4:00pm - 6:00pm |
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