Elena Lo Presti

Participatory arts projects can also be empowering, and help people gain con- trol over their lives – sometimes, as with Acting Up’s work with severely disabled peo- ple, in a very practical sense. They can also play a vital role in the regeneration process, facilitating consultation and partnership between residents and public agencies. Arts

Craft is contemporary because it is progressive, because creating things by hand yourself proposes an alternative microeconomic of local making, a system of exchange more akin to bartering with its emphasis on trade and tactile connections to supply-and-demand. It is environmentally conscious and respectful of the earth's diminishing resources.

Craft is contemporary because it importantly maintains its tactile, bodily component in the face of computer technology. It connects people in the flesh and provides a much-needed alternative to the incessant push of digital interfaces, mediatization, and screen culture. Current stitch-and-bitch circles or knitting groups provide a respite from

British cultural policy has been hindered by decades of protectionist infighting between opposing special interests (Hewison 1995). Instead we need a more balanced under- standing of the role and worth of the arts in our society – one which simultaneously embraces their aesthetic, cultural, economic and social values, and allows for the differ- ent

The Great Pottery Throw Down  is a British television competition programme first broadcast on  BBC Two  from 3 November 2015. It is a contest in the style of  The Great British Bake Off  and  The Great British Sewing Bee , but with  pottery .