Learn/ Assemble 2010: The Crafts Council Conference/ 22 June 2010
General Information
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
Please keep checking the Assemble website for up to date information about speakers and sessions.
The following is a full list of speakers currently confirmed for Assemble 2010:
• Linda Ball, Senior Research Fellow at University of the Arts London
• Emily Campbell, Director of Design at Royal Society of Arts
• Andrew Cornell Robinson, Director of ACR Studios and faculty at Parsons School of Design, New York
• Martin Conreen, Senior Lecturer in Design at Goldsmiths University of London
• 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
• Will Hunt, Research Fellow at the Institute of Employment Studies, London
• 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
• Daniel Miller, author and Professor of Material Culture at University College London
• Gerri Morris, Principal Consultant at Morris Hargreaves McIntyre
• Lynne Murray, Maker and Brand Director at Holition
• 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
Ticketing Information
Please visit the Assemble website from April 20th 2010
Contact Information
The Crafts Council
44a Pentonville Road
Islington
London
N1 9BY
Telephone: +44 (0) 207 806 2500
