Updates from Rosy Greenlees
Autumn is always a busy time for craft and this year has been no exception
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL
This year craft had a high profile at the London Design Festival; not least because many craft organisations took the opportunity to participate and because design has become interested in craft. We undertook a range of projects: Origin: the London Craft Fair, in a new venue, Old Spitalfields Market; the launch of our new touring exhibition Lab Craft: Digital adventures in contemporary craft at Tent London before its national tour, our annual Craft Curators’ Conference examined craft and new technologies; and at Few and Far in the “Brompton Quarter”, the exhibition Tables and Chairs: new contemporary voices in wood in partnership with longstanding champion of contemporary craft, Priscilla Carluccio – also one of our current Craft Champions.
There were other opportunities to see craft with exhibitions and open studios at Cockpit Studios, Craft Central and Contemporary Applied Arts; Museumaker and Ceramics in the City at the Geffrye Museum, The Shape of Things at Flow Gallery amongst the many design organisations showing work.
CRAFTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
Three of our five Collective programmes are now up and running, with development work progressing on the final two tiers.
Hothouse, the Crafts Council’s Collective professional development scheme, was taking place in Farnham; in partnership with University for the Creative Arts, Crafts Study Centre, Farnham Maltings and the New Ashgate Gallery, and included an exhibition of work by participating makers at the New Ashgate Gallery.
We had a very successful pilot of the Portfolio strand working with Creativity, Culture and Education to support a group of makers working in education in the Midlands. Our next Collective Rally, with partners Design Initiative, Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester City Council takes place on 8th December. You can visit the Craft Rally site here
FIRING UP!
Our two major Participation and Learning projects are also making great progress, with Firing Up , our three-year national programme to reinvigorate the teaching of ceramics in schools, now well under way in the three hubs for this year (Plymouth, London and Liverpool) and Craft Clubs proliferating in schools across the country.
We are very grateful to the Esmee Fairbairn and Paul Hamlyn Foundations for their generous support of Firing Up.
CRAFTNET
Elsewhere, we were delighted to co-host an event with the Bluecoat Display Centre as part of our rolling programme of joint events with CraftNet members. 50 craft professionals attended and took part in a lively debate on collecting, following presentations from the Art Fund’s Sarah Philp and makers Sarah Thirlwell and Mari-Ruth Oda. The next event in this series will take place on 2nd December with our co-hosts the National Glass Centre, Sunderland.
ON VIEW ONLINE…
We view the online opportunities associated with all of above as vital to reaching the widest audience. So if you haven’t had the chance to see or participate you can online. The Lab Craft website is designed as an integral part of the exhibition; Crafts Council Collective’s Rally site is a stimulus to debate alongside the Rally events; the Craft Club site is central to the scheme, while Craft Action Network is rapidly becoming the key national online resource for all educators with a professional interest in craft. Crafts Magazine’s online presence continues to grow – and its blogs to delight.
And, if you do nothing else, follow this link to our re-launched online exhibitions, marvel at the virtuosity of the makers represented there, and contribute to the discussions that form part of the exhibitions. Visit OnViewOnline here
Just one more online mention for this (online) update: The extraordinary BBC/ British Museum project that was A History of the World in a Hundred Objects reached its climax with the choice of the 100th object. But just as excitingly, the accompanying website allowed individuals and other public collections to share their iconic objects with the widest possible audience. Our own selection from the Crafts Council Collection is here. Making underpinned this “History” in the same way it underpins all of contemporary craft and, throughout the series the central role of makers to our society was made abundantly clear. Life will not be quite the same when it’s gone.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAKERS
We are pleased to be working in partnership with two prestigious – and very different –organisations on retail opportunities for makers. Selfridges & Co is seeking to commission six individual makers to produce one single glass decoration to form part of an exclusive, limited edition set for Christmas 2011.
Meanwhile, the British Museum Company has developed a unique commissioning opportunity for jewellers living and working in the UK to produce work for the forthcoming exhibition ‘Treasures of Heaven; Art, Sanctity and Power’.
Find out more about the Selfridges competition here and the British Museum Company here
OUT AND ABOUT
It was a pleasure to return to Belgium for the opening of the second European Triennial for Ceramics and Glass presented by the World Crafts Council – Belgique Francophone (WCC-BF). Featuring work from Belgium, Spain and England, Julian Stair, who we invited to select the UK works, and I were delighted that Katharine Morling was awarded the Prix de la Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles (Prize of the Ministry of the French Community) and Anna Dickinson received a special honorary mention from the Jury.
I also attended the World Crafts Council Europe’s General Assembly in Bornholm meeting representatives of each of the national entities and was at SOFA Chicago promoting Collect and the UK market meeting US collectors and galleries and the new Director of the American Crafts Council.
Nearer home, I returned to Sheffield for the judging and announcement of the Museums Sheffield Metalwork Design Award. Whilst a national competition, the winner came from very close to home with Chris Knight who has done so much to promote Sheffield’s continued pre-eminence in metalwork and whose work demonstrated skill, technique and innovation.
Meetings included updates with the CBI, Creative & Cultural Skills and the Craft Potters Association as well as meetings with the Taiwan Trade Centre, representatives of the Dutch Department of Culture and the Norwegian Association of Art and Craft. I also attended the Mission, Models. Money Capital Matters working group which continues to develop this important piece of work
The Crafts Council and Crafts Magazine had a busy time at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester and the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.
Finally, colleagues attended the Craft & Design Conference in Brussels where Dr Karen Yair presented a paper based on our recent Making Value research, The First Edge Lecture on Technical and Vocational Education, the speech by Skills Minister John Hayes at the RSA, the Museums Association conference, Turning Point national conference and Media Festival Arts.
NEW GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Government policies continue to develop rapidly. As we approached the Spending Review, it seemed as if the entire country could talk about nothing but “the cuts” and the arts and cultural sectors were awash with rumour and speculation about funding for the next three years. In the last few weeks, much has happened. But I appreciate that this is of great interest to some and not to others, so see our extensive policy briefing for full details.
Suffice it to say it is vitally important that we continue to make the case for craft so it was good to see Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, framed by contemporary craft in the October issue of Museums Journal and writing eloquently on the subject in December’s GQ. Our thanks for both!
GILLIAN LOWNDES AND ERIK DE GRAAF
But I must finish on a sad note.
We were saddened to hear of the death of Gillian Lowndes in October and of Erik de Graaf in November.
Gillian trained firstly as a sculptor but changed to ceramics at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (1956-59) and went on to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Her childhood in India and travel in Nigeria in the 1970s informed her work and gave her a lifelong interest in archaeology and ethnography. She challenged the traditional notions of the vessel form in ceramics incorporating found objects and materials from everyday life such as wire and tin cans into her work. Gillian exhibited at the Crafts Council in 1987, we acquired her work for the Crafts Council Collection and more recently these pieces were featured in a touring exhibition ‘Deviants’ which travelled to a number of museums and galleries around the country.
More information about her life and work here
Dutch artist /designer Erik de Graaff featured in the Crafts Council exhibition: ‘Influential Europeans in British Craft and Design’ and we are proud to hold three works made by him in the Crafts Council Collection: two chairs acquired in 1979 and a chaise longue acquired in 1994. Erik’s legacy and commitment to craft will endure through this work.
PRESS RELEASES LAST MONTH…
Origin Close of Show
Online Exhibitions
World Crafts Council exhibition
