Vol. 28, No. 1: Crafted

Vol. 28, No. 1: Crafted

In our Spring 2022 Issue, Southern Cultures examines crafts—from the art of repair to living and dyeing in Swananoa, North Carolina, and from Bahamian beekeeping to barbecuing and meatcraft across the region.

Front Porch: Crafted

by Marcie Cohen Ferris

“For over six decades, craft has pulled me into a troubled and complicated American South where objects offer hints of meaning and voices of long-ago makers visible in stitches and thumbprints.”

How the Sausage Is Made

by Danille Elise Christensen

"The sad state of Spam fresh from the can is legendary. Yet the physical appearance of home-cured and factory processed meats belies other kinds of appeal.”

Quilts, Social Engineering, and Black Power in the Tennessee Valley

by Janneken Smucker

“These objects were not gifts of gratitude, but gifts intended to influence policy and practice.”

Art & Alchemy

by Katy Clune, Julia Gartrell

“Mending and maintaining objects is ultimately an act and expression of care for the thing itself—for the customer, for the environment.”

Natural Born Subversive

by Laurin C. Guthrie

“It is like alchemy to collect weeds, the plants that almost no one wants, and cook them up to create beautiful colors.”

Listen, Consider, Evolve

by Elijah Heyward III, Allan Jones

“We are all makers, constantly using tangible and intangible tools to craft our reality.”

Preserving Black Crafts and Legacies

by Simiyha Garrison

“Research has revealed the names of more than 200 African American craftspeople working in stoneware manufacturing in the Edgefield District of South Carolina, a legacy spanning three generations.”

Craft or Curse?

by Adrian Miller

“What do we mean by ‘craft,’ and should it apply to making barbecue?”

Reading Foxfire

by Jessica Wilkerson

“When detached from a complex past, Foxfire contributes to the construction of an imagined and static white Appalachia.”

Portal

by Nina Oteria

“In a dream, you could do that. Hug someone you haven’t seen in years without crying.”