From cultural restrictions to harmful stereotypes the seemingly opposite experiences of the first and most recent people to live on this land share the same struggles. "Crafted Strangers" explores how craft can be used as a tool for regaining control over how one chooses to define themself.

The 17  contemporary artists reinterpreting tradition represent a diverse and unique perspective of racial and ethnic identities within the Americas. Through the materials selected, the tools used, and the method of display, traditions of beading, weaving, tufting, sewing, collage, braiding and drumming are reimagined. This treatment of the craft genre allows for a sophisticated dialogue that questions how strangeness or otherness is crafted and broken. What does it feel like to be a stranger in home, society, and country? Look beyond first impressions and see identity as an evolving collection of experiences rather than a fixed story.

The curators would like to acknowledge that we are guests in the unceded territory of the Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi people of what is presently called Asheville, North Carolina.