In 1963 Sutherland County Council purchased a disused airbase from the Ministry of Defence. Situated on the remote northerly coast of the Scottish Highlands, it consisted of a series of derelict, flat-roofed buildings, deemed uninhabitable due to their lack of insulation and basic utilities. Nevertheless, the Council had a vision: to create a thriving community of craftspeople that would address years of depopulation and economic decline. It was called ‘The Far North Project’. A singularly utopian vision, it attracted entrepreneurs and idealists from across the country and abroad. 

For the Far North pioneers however, reality was often far from the dream. Although the project presented an opportunity for adventurous artisans, those hoping to escape from the rat race were quickly subsumed by another sort of tyranny - the production of souvenirs for tourists. This chapter will examine what became of the Far North Project, and consider whether any lessons can be learned. It will question the role of government in supporting craft communities, and the relationship between national development strategy, economic sustainability in remote locations and the individual’s desire for creative autonomy. 

This chapter will draw on extensive primary research including interviews with makers involved in The Far North Project, policy documents from the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Scottish Development Agency, as well as archive research from the Scottish Craft Centre. Conceptually the chapter is underpinned by theory from the fields of sociology, material culture and anthropology. Namely Petersen and Anand’s research on The Production of Culture (2004), Becker’s Art Worlds (2008) Riello’s work on cultural value of products in a consuming culture (Reillo 2009), as well as Graburn (1979) and Hickey’s (1997) writing on craft objects and souvenirs.