Crafts issue 286: Speaking across divides

In our January/February issue, we meet artists who use making as a language

Textile artist Anya Paintsil, photographed for Crafts by Mary McCartney

For many of the makers in our January/February 2021 issue, craft is a way to communicate across cultural and social divides without words. In South Africa, we visit ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane, who has developed a unique vocabulary of symbols drawn from the Xhosa culture of the Eastern Cape that seeks to heal rifts.

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Discover ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane, whose symbolic ceramics tell moving stories

We speak to a group of contemporary artists in the Arctic Circle, for whom the craft and material culture of the Sámi people is a unifying force against threats to their traditions and communities. And in the UK we meet emerging talent Anya Paintsil, whose sculptural textiles are threaded with humour and a sharp critique about racism.

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We hear from the Sàmi artists going global, despite their communities being on thin ice

Elsewhere, a group of designers, artists and makers channel their problem-solving skills into practical solutions for the common good, an urbanist explores how craft could save our cities post-COVID-19, and actor Jeremy Irons offers an ode to the skilled boat-builders near his home in Ireland.