If you look around in the world today, to the leather art and craft arrangements can you see many more big international arrangements with possibility to partisipations from crafters and artists around the world, in contrast for a couple of decades ago, where most exhibition arrangements was more or less local. Something as fall into your eyes when you take a closer look at them is that all this international exhibition arrangements as have come the later years and the items as is exhibited for assessment of a jury and be given points after certain criterias, differ in assessment and point giving from arrangement to arrangement. Example in Japan is it given points after a scale on 10 points, while you in Sweden ( in principle) get points for the same item after a scale on 150 points. And in Canada is it given points after a scale as olso have 1/4 points. How this relate to arrangement as Dimension in Leather in Australia, or on the World Leather Debut Exhibition in Sheridan,USA is uncertain but a jury probably give a point assessment after a own scale. How much it can deviate from other arrangement or consur is uncertain. And how this will be developed in Europe on ELWATS in Arnhem, Holland, that have a run up to a exhibition is unknown, but I must say I is missing a international point system that comply with the todays reality what concern the amount of international arrangements – who advertise with, that they are open to all interested from the whole world.
When it not exist a international point system, so is my first thought that it must be the International Federation of Leather Guilds, (from now only IFOLG) as is sleping on post, well satisfied with the state of things as in much are the same as in the ”local days”. But things are not standing on the post resting. The second as as is striking is that the leather art and craft world perhaps not are organized with a association as could be able to work with such issues as a international point system at international leather art and craft arrangement?. As the situation is today should it, after my oponion be IFOLG as took the initiativ to promote 1: a international point system, or 2: if IFOLG not have any mandate to this type of international work, should take the initiativ to a association as could work with such questions.
To days information from international leather art and craft arrangement tell mostley who was number 1,2 and 3, while a clear part of it, to be able to form a oponion, must be that the criteria and the scoring were made public. Then you not can have many different national/local point scale system. Of course can national/local point scales system exist side by side with a international point system, but it have nothing to do in international exhibition arrangements.
I do not know how satisfied the organizers are with the international partisipation on the respective arrangements. But I remember many years ago, on the first IFOLG arrangement I as a leathercrafter partisipated on, that you had to sign under that you not would’t protest against the jury descion. But as a writer about leather art and craft arrangement it is of course an unsustainable position ,- as without a international point system that is publicly available only gets worst because it’s a complex matter to write, not so much perhaps about a jury desicion, as about how a exhibition result has been and perhaps is it not possible to do it on a serious way without a common point system as is with on to give consensus.
How much the lack of a international point system reflect the number of internatonal partisipants on international arrangements am I not sure of , but think the questsion it’s a part of the seriousness as the international leather art and craft arrangement organizers should take into account if the number of international partisipants on their arrangement does not meet expectations.