London Craft Week 2018
May is to the craft scene what September is to fashion. A time to discover the feats of craft and creativity from over 200 showcases and workshops that have been curated for London Craft Week. This year’s event has evolved to include major exhibitions, rare demonstrations and a programme of talks that get right to the heart of the modern craft movement.
So what can we expect on this journey? Perhaps start at The Design Museum, whose parabolic grandeur hosts the Loewe Craft Prize 2018 exhibition, including Jennifer Lee’s prize-winning pinched and coiled clay vessel and Takuro Kuwata’s molten metal drenched tea bowl. Tuesday sees a panel discussion on the importance of community in craft and Thursday is the opening of the Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier exhibition.
“It is designed as a journey of discovery – a cultural experience in the broadest sense of the word.”
Guy Salter, London Craft Week chairman
Joint sponsor Dunhill’s Mayfair townhouse will be something of a craft and culture hub for the week, in partnership with Hole & Corner magazine. Watch our very own Maria Sigma demonstrating her live weaving expertise as maker in residence at Bourdon House alongside film screenings, workshops, a café, plus our favourite perfumer Lyn Harris in conversation with design guru Ilse Crawford.
Nearby, at Shapiro Rare Books, The Garnered’s Little Globe Company will show an exhibition of palm-sized ceramic globes, while founder Loraine Rutt’s demonstration of how they’re made is a must-see. Across town, another friend of The Garnered, milliner Paul Stafford will be sharing his knowledge at the Artworkers’ Guild’s Craft of Millinery talk on new hatmaking techniques and technologies.
Despite its location, London Craft Week is a global love-in. No advocate of slow craft should pass up the display of Kyoto ceramics and textile appreciation taking place at the Nobu Hotel, Shoreditch. And design-conscious denim-heads will enjoy the Welsh-Danish fusion of Hiut Denim (currently putting Cardigan back on the denim-making map) and Carl Hansen & Son, with an exhibition and demos at the Danish brand’s Clerkenwell showroom.
