2008 World Craft Council General Assembly held in Hangzhou
By admin on 2014-12-15

The 16th WCC General Assembly was held in China’s southern city of Hangzhou from the 4th to 11th November, 2008. The assembly was surrounded by a variety of other activities including an International Arts and Crafts Exhibition, an international forum on crafts, a designer’s seminar, the 2008 "Asia Pacific Region Craft Master" Awarding and Crafts Seminars, and the 2008 UNESCO AWARD of Excellence for Handicrafts in East Asia Awarding Ceremony and Workshop.

The theme of 2008 WCC General Assembly was to promote the arts and crafts in the world, improve and inherit the skills of manual technique, develop the cultural industry and assist the prosperity of the crafts’ art.

The opening ceremony of the General Assembly

The opening ceremony of the General Assembly was held in the Great Hall of Zhejiang province on the 6th. Nov. Maria Celina, the chairman of the WCC attended the ceremony and gave a speech. in which she expressed her appreciation for the contribution that China has made for the arts and crafts. She also expressed the hope that the 2008 WCC General Assembly could further promote the development of the arts and crafts.

International Arts and Crafts Exhibition

International Arts and Crafts Exhibition joined the Contemporary Arts and Crafts Masterwork Exhibition, which was held annually by the China Arts and Crafts Association. This year’s exhibition highlighted unique handicraft works from different regions of the world.

The scale of the exhibition reached its highest level ever. It included an array of beautiful and exquisite handicraft works from every craft category all around China. The exhibition was surrounded by a set of interesting activities such as crafts demonstration by traditional crafts masters, craft auction, donation, and a juried competition.

The biggest thing of the exhibition was the range and quality of works. Every province showed their best works and professional artists’ work comprised 70% of the total work on display.

The 2008 “Asia Pacific Region Craft Master”

The 2008 “Asia Pacific Region Craft Master” Awarding Program was jointly organized by World Crafts Council Asia Pacific Region Secretariat and China Arts and Crafts Association. The aims of this program were to honor the craftspeople who have made outstanding contributions to development of crafts in the region, to promote their social status in their societies, to provide opportunities for craftspeople from different countries of the region to exchange ideas and experiences, to enhance international awareness of craft traditions of Asia Pacific Region, and to encourage more people to join in the work of promoting and developing the handicraft traditions in the region.

A National Committee was formed to take charge of organizing the program in each country and undertaking the pre-selection of “Asia Pacific Region Craft Master” nominees. A judging panel consisting of members appointed by WCC-APR selected the craftspeople who were honored with the title of “Asia Pacific Region Craft Master”.

Background information

About WCC

Founded in 1964, the World Crafts Council (WCC) is a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization. Its purpose is to strengthen the status of crafts as a vital part of cultural and economic life, to promote fellowship among craftspeople of the world, to offer them encouragement, help, advice, and to foster economic development through income generating activities.

The WCC is organized into the following five regions: Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, and North America. The WCC General Assemblies have been organized every four year with rotation of venues among five regions.

About Hangzhou

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province and its political, economic and cultural center. With its famous natural beauty and cultural heritages, Hangzhou is one of China's most important tourist venues.

The West Lake is undoubtedly the most renowned feature of Hangzhou, noted for the scenic beauty that blends naturally with many famous historical and cultural sites. A number of national museums can be found in Hangzhou and are representative of Chinese culture.