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This session highlights the integral role of craft and material culture in global art history, urging a reevaluation of craft as a fundamental component of artistic practice. Historically, craft has been central to art production across cultures, yet its significance has often been overlooked within mainstream art historical narratives. From the rich traditions of Chinese art, where calligraphy, ceramics, and silk weaving have long been revered as high art, to the vibrant artistic practices within LatinX communities, where craft and everyday objects have served as expressions of cultural identity and resistance, craft has always been deeply embedded in the fabric of art history.

By centering craft, this session provides an opportunity to recover and reframe these overlooked narratives, recognizing the contributions of marginalized communities—particularly women, Indigenous groups, and diasporic artists—whose work has shaped both historical and contemporary art. As Professor Julia Bryan-Wilson emphasized in her keynote at Rice University, "there are no self-taught artists; they are mother-taught artists." This poignant observation underscores the importance of craft as a generational, community-based knowledge that has shaped art outside formal academic structures.