The institutions of art have been criticised for regulating what is designated as contemporary art. Outsider art, for instance, is literally contemporary art, in that it is produced in the present
day. However, it is not considered so because the artists are self-taught and are assumed to be working outside of an art historical context.Craft activities, such as textile design, are also excluded from the realm
of contemporary art, despite large audiences for exhibitions. Attention is drawn to the way that craft objects must subscribe to particular values in order to be admitted. `A ceramic object that is intended as
a subversive comment on the nature of beauty is more likely to fit the definition of contemporary art than one that is simply beautiful.
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