The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary crafts in the UK. The Crafts Council's work is organised into three strands: creative economy, building audiences, and championing craft. Our funding contributes to core costs and supports the artistic programme, strategic partnerships and advocacy work, maintaining the Crafts Council Collection, education, market development initiatives, regional artistic programming and touring, publishing and communications.
Firing Up is the Crafts Council's national programme highlighting clay and ceramics. Now entering its third year, the initiative has been development by the Crafts Council through a steering committee of representatives from NALN, NSEAD, University of the Arts (London), Clayground Collective and Ofsted.
In this filmed presentation, David answered questions that were crowd sourced through social media channels. He discussed making as a collaborative activity, and how it is enabled by digital communications technology.
http://www.assemble.org.uk/
Professor Roger Kneebone, Professor of Surgical Education, Imperial College London, PhD FRCS FRCSEd FRCGP and Joshua Byrne, Byrne & Burge, discuss the crossovers between surgery and tailoring.
http://www.assemble.org.uk/
The Crafts Council asked film-maker Jessica Stevenson to make a short film on COLLECT 2012 Project Space artist Louise Gardiner making her ambitious five-piece embroidery installation -- You Blow my Mind.
http://www.collect2012.org.uk
This film, shown in the Crafts Council's touring exhibition, Breath Taking, demonstrates In the Same Breath, created by Kate Williams and played by Alan Tomlinson.
In the same breath, a hand-blown, lamp-worked glass trombone is created using breath, and in turn can be reactivated by breath as it is played. It serves as a metaphor for breathing; the breath becoming visible as condensation, the glass allowing the viewer to see this.
The film was devised and directed by Kate Williams.
http://breath-taking.org.uk/
The Industry of Making held at Manchester Metropolitan University on Wednesday 8 December 2010, was the third Craft Rally. Around fifty makers attended, exploring ideas and experiences of bringing the significance of the handmade to impact and to develop industry, in many forms. The day was a mix of workshops, presentations, discussions, networking and socialising.
This film follows the artist Kate Malone at her studio's in London as she builds a group of large scale ceramic pots for an exhibition.
Many thanks to William Taylor.
Glassblowing is highly physical; involving the controlled, balletic, often repetitious and precise co-ordination of two people working together. In order to explore these characteristics, a choreographed work was commissioned to embody the physical involvement and communication inherent in glassblowing practice. The choreography has been generated as a response to a sound score, which is based on recordings of glassblowers at work. A duet between two dancers involves contact work to represent the essential elements of trust, cooperation and synchronicity.
Neil Wissink, 2011
Elaine Sheldon and Dominic Cooney built their studio in a converted chapel in Staffordshire. They work collaboratively, as well as independently, on commissions, commercial and artistic projects. Film-maker Federico Urdaneta captures the events during a day in the studio. He explores the nature of their collaboration, their working practice and records the rhythm of them at work.
Find out more about the Craft Council's new touring exhibition, Breath Taking at http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/collection-and-exhibitions/exhibitions/touring-exhibitions/
Listen to Daniel Miller's contribution to the The Consumer Trends Session at Assemble 2010, the Crafts Council's conference.
Daniel Miller is a world renowned author and Professor of Material Culture, University College London
Watch this fascinating video clip of jewellery maker Mah Rana. For Mah Rana the main focus of her work is communication. She explains the significance of expression through jewellery and how her study of psychology has impacted her art practice.
Grainne Morton discusses her inspirations and the challenges of working with different materials. See why Grainne's work has become more narrative in recent years.
Arts Council England is not responsible for the social media content on this organisation's page
Making is Connecting, David Gauntlett
You Blow Me Away - Louise Gardiner. COLLECT 2012
Firing Up programme - outcomes of the first year of Firing Up
Manchester Craft Rally - The Industry of Making
The Craft Club Mini Documentary
Kate Malone prepares for Robilant+Voena exhibition
Sing in Sand and Roar in Furnace Fire
Crafts Council Firing Up London Cluster Launch
Charlie Macpherson at Origin 2007
