Crafts Council turns 40
Loom in action at The Industry of Making Craft Rally held in Manchester, December 2010
The Crafts Council is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2011.
In our 40th anniversary year we will working towards making the Crafts Council’s Collection an outstanding and accessible national resource and placing it even more firmly at the heart of all our work. We plan to acquire more examples of work by leading makers, develop new approaches to touring and loans, build our online resources and establish digital links with regional collections to make our Collection a national hub for information and research.
We will also be highlighting certain exhibitions and initiatives from this years programme in order to demonstrate the breadth and depth of work that the Crafts Council does;
Craft Club is a Crafts Council and UK Hand-knitting Association initiative that has just launched its second scheme ‘Hook 1 Pass it On’ to teach young people how to crochet. Craft Club launched in 2010 and there are now over 300 Craft Clubs currently giving young people the opportunity to learn craft skills from members of their community via free after-school clubs. www.craftclub.org.uk
Craft Rally is one of the five initiatives that make up the Crafts Council’s Collective programme for maker development. Craft Rally is an opportunity for makers to exchange information and ideas around contemporary craft practice. The next Craft Rally is going to be held during the West Dean Festival on 27 August 2011 and will explore the meaning of collaboration to create new work www.craftrally.org.uk
Power of Making is the second V&A and Crafts Council exhibition and will take place at the V&A from 6 September 2011 to 2 January 2012. It will celebrate the role of making in our lives by presenting an eclectic selection of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects through a cabinet of curiosities showing works by both amateurs and leading makers from around the world to present a snapshot of making in our time.
Lost in Lace is the first exhibition to come out of the Fifty:Fifty Programme and will take place at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (BMAG) from 29 October 2011 to 19 February 2012. The Crafts Council and BMAG will collaborate on this large-scale, theatrical exhibition featuring work by international artists inspired by the language of lace. Visitors will be able to walk through, between, and under textile installations.
Origin: The Contemporary Craft Fair returns to Old Spitalfields from the 22 to 28 September 2011 to coincide with London Design Festival. Origin is presented by Tent London for the Crafts Council and will showcase over 200 contemporary makers to the public in this highly established and respected selling event that covers all crafts including ceramics, glass, silver and metalwork, furniture and jewellery. www.originuk.org
For more information on any of the above visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk or contact Jill Read at media@craftscouncil.org.uk or tel: 020 7806 2549.
