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Crafts CouncilStories

Make! Craft! Live! Events for your diary


ByFrancesca Glass

17 December 2021

A look back at what's taken place and what's to come, as we celebrate the nation's love of craft


Francesca Glass

17 December 2021

  • 50th anniversary
  • Exhibitions
  • Crafts Council Gallery

Workshop participants creating cardboard ceramics with Ray G Brown

Like many, we’re celebrating a big birthday in a weird old year. Will it quash our fun? Absolutely not.

In October, we launched Make! Craft! Live! – a year-long programme of nationwide exhibitions, workshops, fairs, and digital activities that celebrate the value of craft to empower, enrich and connect our society. While the pandemic exposed deep inequalities in craft and our role in fostering them, we decided to challenge the status quo and call out to UK organisations doing the same. Boy, did they deliver…

While timings remain uncertain – like most things right now – we can’t wait for the Make! Craft! Live! events coming up in 2022. Read on to discover what’s already happened, and how you can get involved in the new year.

Past events

Participation workshops

We kicked off celebrations with a week of local family workshops at the Crafts Council Gallery, with events led by three brilliant creatives: artist Ray G Brown, illustrator Niallycat and 3D designer Sam Brown.

The week culminated in a National Day of Creativity, with seven external organisations hosting events with specialist makers and artists. The final event took place at the Crafts Council Gallery in partnership with Black Girl Knit Club and La Basketry and was a hoot.

Highlights included:

  • An LGBTQIA+-friendly event at Blackpool Central Library hosted by Auntie Social CIC, with a ceramics workshop led by Morgan Dowdell.
  • Willow sculptor Stefan Jennings worked with participants to make a large willow archway to go on display at MAKE South West (formerly Devon Guild of Craftsmen).
  • Artist Ziba Imam delivered a session for British Ceramics Biennial, giving many participants their first creative workshops since lockdown restrictions have lifted.
  • Black Girl Knit Club and La Basketry teaming up to deliver a basket weaving workshop at Crafts Council Gallery, offering women of colour a safe space to learn new skills.

  • 3D design workshop with furniture designer Sam Brown

  • Printmaking workshop with illustrator and animator NiallyCat

  • Knit and Weave Workshop with Black Girl Knit Club and La Basketry

British Textiles Biennial

In East Lancashire, BTB dressed the month of October in the global story of textiles, exploring the relationships they’ve informed across continents, centuries, expressions and identities.

Memorable moments included a major new commission by Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid, fashion historian Amber Butchart as guest curator, a ground-breaking sustainable fashion project with designer Patrick Grant, and a collaboration between artist James Fox and actor Maxine Peake. Did you miss it? No fear – you can catch up on their brilliant talks programme online.

We Gather at the Crafts Council Gallery

We opened We Gather at the Crafts Council Gallery, an exhibition which mastermind curators Rosie Ross and Griffi say ‘pays homage to a traditionally under-represented ecology, economy and legacy of craft, created by Black and Asian women in Britain’.

Borne out of Dr Karen Patel's research into racism in the craft sector, the exhibition features five female artists of Black and Asian heritage whose work shares a commitment to craft and its cultural value: Shaheen Ahmed, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Francisca Onumah and Onome Otite.

The exhibition continues until 12 March 2022, culminating in 'Knit and Tings' - a talk from Lorna Hamilton-brown.

Book tickets

  • Murmur vessels by Francisca Onumah. Photo: Ben Deakin

  • We Gather at the Crafts Council Gallery, including textile figures by Onome Otite. Photo: Ben Deakin

  • Light installation by British-Sudanese textile artist Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings

Creative Share at Manchester Craft & Design Centre

'Excellent, exciting, endless possibilities' proclaimed the artists involved in Creative Share - a showcase of ceramic works by James Kingsford, Emma Slater, Sam Bradley, Dylan Yardley, Jenny Hinchcliffe and Laura Negus.

All works were made during their inaugural artist residency programme at Pure Art Studio, a registered charity that supports people with a learning disability or autism to create fulfilled lives with a sense of purpose and belonging. It offers a place where people with a learning disability and an interest in art can develop their skills and thrive.


  • Clay figurine by James Kingsford and Abbi Betton at Pure Art Studio. Photo: Laura Feltham, courtesy of MCDC

Coming up

Flock Together

8-31 January 2022, 10-5pm

ACEArts, Somerton

Taking its cue from The Red Dress - a 12-year, award-winning global, embroidery project by local artist Kirstie Macleod, 'Flock Together' aims to connect the community through collaborative stitch. Open to all ages and abilities - even total beginners - the participation programme will connect the public with sewing kits and vintage machinery, live demos, online workshops and more.

Each participant will embroider a unique 10 x 10cm square before combining all contributions into a collaborative piece. The resulting fabric will be exhibited in January 2023. Follow #FlockTogether22 to see the project develop in real-time!

In Body Vessel Clay

29 January - 29 April 2022, 10-5pm

Two Temple Place, London

From the seminal potter Ladi Kwali in 1950s Nigeria, to experimental new works by women of colour working today, Two Temple Place will celebrate surprising new ways of exploring one of the world’s oldest artforms.

Through the exhibition, ceramic history over the last 70 years is disrupted, questioned and reimagined, with over 80 works tracing post-colonial, gender and class perspectives on ceramics across continents.

Plan your visit

  • Group of pots by Magdalene Odundo DBE. Courtesy of York Museums Trust

  • Nigerian potter, Ladi Kwali at work. Image: Annaliese Davidsen

  • Jade Montserrat and Webb-Ellis, Clay, 2015. Film still by Anneliese Davidsen

The Show Windows: Reflections

1 March - 1 April 2022

City Arcade, Coventry

As part of the UK City of Culture 2021 celebrations, City Arcade, Coventry, is presenting works from the Crafts Council Collection. Curated by local group Coffee Tots, the works speak to the themes of Amazing Women, life in Coventry today and the stories behind its post-war architecture.

Coffee Tots, a cafe run by charity Three Spires Family, is a safe space and free creative group for parents who may feel isolated, are struggling with their mental health or anxiety and/or are on a low income. Quiet Down There worked with women from the group to explore the theme Amazing Women by looking at objects from our Collection and asking questions about what it means to be a woman in society today.


  • Asentamiento Dress, Julie Cook, 2006, Crafts Council Collecton: T169. Photo: Heini Schneebeli..jpg
Find out more

What are we Wearing? Children's Workshop

18-19 February 2022, 1-4.30pm

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Edinburgh

Once considered a tool for democracy, nowadays fast fashion is one of the biggest threats to our planet. As brands over-produce and people over-consume, future generations are losing their chance to learn about textiles and gain repair skills.

Enter knitwear designer Maija Nygren aka Almaborealis. Maija began knitting and crocheting at 5 years old with her Finnish grandmother and passionately believes that clothing, like any other material goods in our lives, ought to have an infinite life cycle. Families of children aged 6 years and above are invited to explore the origin of everyday clothing before transforming discarded textiles into 3D wearable artworks.

Book now

  • Knitwear designer Almaborealis at work

Find out more

Come rain or shine, in person or online - there's always something crafty happening in the UK and we can't wait to welcome you to a workshop, demonstration, fair or webinar in 2022.

Visit our What's on page to stay up to date with the UK craft calendar and book onto an upcoming Make! Craft! Live! activity.

Got an idea for a Make! Craft! Live! activity in your area? Check out the application page for more information on how to be a partner or come along to our Online Q&A on 19 January.

#makecraftlive #craftscouncilat50

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