Browsing by Subject "laadullinen sisällönanalyysi"

Objectives. The objective of this study was to research how handicraft in contemporary art can weaken traditional gendered structures. There’s been active discussion of gender equality in the early years of the 21st century. History has had a big impact on how handicraft is regarded and how gendered it has been. Previous studies has shown that textilecrafts in the 21st century has also artistic value, not only practical value. In this study I consider handcraft’s impact on gendered structures in the context of art. Methods. The theoretical background of this thesis is based on an interview of an specialist and on relevant research literature. The research material consisted of Noora Schroderus (a Finnish sculptor) artworks which included embroidery. The research method used for qualitative content analysis was hermeneutic research method. By using content analysis I made interpretations on the artworks. Results. When researching art, one can not reach final interpretations on art works. When looking at the artworks through qualitative content analysis, it became clear that the most rewarding way of interpreting artworks is from their contexts. Through the analysis it is possible to find four different contexts where the embroidery of the artworks occur and weakens the gendered structures. These four contexts were the artwork in the hands of the artist, the artwork in exhibitions and the interaction between the artwork and the viewer and the society. Through handicraft in the arts it is possible to weaken the deep-rooted paradigms and norms. In the context of art, handicraft is seen more widely as art and not just as an item. The untypical and interesting material choices of Embroidered banknotes-series attracts the viewer to consider the artworks that weaken the traditional perceptions of the possibilities of handicraft, or more specifically, of embroidery. Thus it is possible to question the gendered structures in the society and build dialogue between different actors. When considered as art, handcraft is more expressive and more appreciated than when considered just as an handcraft item. These study results can not be generalised to other artworks but the results increase awareness of handicrafts possibility to influence art, society and discussion of equality.