More than mere craft ... a Grayson Perry pot at the Turner prize show, 2003. Photograph: Linda Nylind
It is a shame that Jonathan Jones spoils a good thesis on architecture with a gratuitous dig at craft - "visual artists fought for centuries to define themselves as more than mere craftsmen". In an age when a potter wins the Turner prize and over 90,000 makers are producing the broadest range of work in the UK, and when barriers are breaking down between art, craft and design, the attachment of relative importance to different sectors feels redundant and outmoded.
Does Jones attach greater importance to fine art purely because of the price that it currently commands in the market? That is hard to believe from someone of his critical acumen. In saying that "visual artists are protected by galleries and curators", surely he implicitly includes the thousands of contemporary craft objects currently held in collections ranging from mima in Middlesbrough to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to the V&A in London and the Crafts Council's own collection. The recent Art Fund/ Crafts Council initiative, enabling four galleries to acquire works worth £50,000 during Collect 2008 is just one example of institutions' enthusiasm to collect when the funds are available. Incidentally, 10,000 visitors attended Collect, the international art fair for contemporary objects at the V&A, where the work of over 400 makers - none of whom I would describe as "mere craftsmen" - was exhibited.
I am sure that Jones means no harm to the craft sector - but loose words loosely applied can damage by implication.
