The Serving Men of New Zealand Studio Furniture, 1979 to 2008

New Zealand’s first comprehensive research on its furniture making history (1830-1900) was published in 2006. This paper adds to that history by summarizing the record of studio furniture, defined as one-of-a-kind and individually made. The narrative begins with studio furniture’s inaugural collective incorporation in 1978, its growth and peak through the 1980s and its disappearance from public view towards the dawn of the new millennium. The state of studio furniture design and making today concludes the discussion.

'Interweaving in New Zealand Culture: a Design Case Study'

Carin Wilson is one of New Zealand’s significant designers and makers of studio furniture. This analysis of his career is enmeshed with New Zealand contemporary craft history, and the national Pākehā (non-Māori) organization that advocated for craft issues and education from 1965 to 1992. During this period and subsequently, Wilson negotiated his bi-cultural heritage to engage in one-of-a-kind furniture-making as well as benefit non-Māori and Māori communities and the nation. Unlike New Zealand’s coat-of-arms, which portrays its founding cultures as equal yet separate, Wilson’s career shows that New Zealand’s cultures merge into each other, manifesting in hybrid individuals and communities.