Assemble 2010
The Crafts Council's post-election conference, Assemble 2010 will look at the economic, innovation and social value of craft in a changing economy through a one-day participatory event at LSO St Luke’s in London on Tuesday 22 June.
Matthew B Crawford, philosopher and motorbike mechanic, will join us to support the case for work that requires mastery of real things. Matthew’s book The Case for Working with your Hands was published last month in the UK. The book has been warmly received, and the author was a recent guest on BBC Radio Four’s Start the Week where he shared his views on the intellectual and ethical dimensions of working with your hands with Andrew Marr.
Also joining us are artists and makers Michael Eden, Tom Gallant and Andrew Cornell Robinson alongside Martin Raymond (Future Laboratories), and Arantza Vilas (Observatorio de Tendencias del Habitat), all of whom will take part in discussions throughout the day, examining the role of making within the creative industries and changing perceptions of craft.
Assemble 2010 will launch substantial new research commissioned by the Crafts Council. Three new reports look at:
• the economic and social value of makers’ through their work across the creative industries, in education and on community projects
• current consumer trends that relate to craft
• craft graduates’ employment, experiences and attitudes in the early stages of their careers.
Assemble 2010 will also show a series of films providing a glimpse of craft’s extensive reach across the creative industries, while craft activists will present projects that engage young people with craft work from ceramics and graffiti to carpentry, increasing their employability..
Craft is a major player within the creative industries, growing more rapidly by employment than any other creative sector and contributing £3 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) each year. The sector has a vital role in the UK’s future economic landscape with craft knowledge and innovation impacting on sectors ranging from film and fashion to health and aerospace.
“Assemble 2010 gives the craft sector, and those who engage with it, the chance to come together, examine how we perceive the future, and make alliances and connections from which we can move forward and strengthen our work together.“
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
To join the debate, read more about the speakers and book a place visit www.assemble.org.uk
—Ends—
For more information please contact Jill Read, Press Officer, Crafts Council on T: 020 7806 2549 or email media@craftscouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
The following is a full list of speakers currently confirmed for Assemble 2010:
Andrew Cornell Robinson, director of ACR Studios and faculty at Parsons School of Design, New York
Michael Eden, ceramicist
Prof Tom Fisher, Professor of Art and Design at Nottingham Trent University
Tom Gallant, artist
Dr Jane Harris, design consultant and Reader in Digital Textile Design at Central St Martins College
Dr Tiffany Jenkins, director of the arts and society programme at the Institute of Ideas
Dr Zoe Laughlin, curator of the Materials Library, Kings College London
Cj O’Neill, maker, designer, workshop leader and Programme Leader at Manchester Metropolitan University
Prof Mike Press, Chair of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee
Martin Raymond, Strategy and Insight Director at the Future Laboratory
Mary Schwarz, cultural sector consultant
Arantza Vilas, director of Pinaki Studios, and trends writer at El Observatorio de Tendencias del Habitat
Shane Waltener, artist
Jon Williams, maker and workshop leader
Dr Karen Yair Research and Information Manager, Crafts Council
• There are limited places for members of the press to attend. Please email Jill Read on the above address if you would like to attend.
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
o We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
o We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
o We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
o We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
o
• 11% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 2008/09, and 17% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE Taking Part data update August 2009). (Taking Part is an ongoing survey being carried out by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE)
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk
• The Crafts Council is supported by Arts Council England. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, it supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Between 2008 and 2011, Arts Council England will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
