LCW 2022: Still On View
London Craft Week 2022 has now come to a close, and we’d like to thank everyone who visited this year’s line-up of exhibitions, talks, demonstrations, workshops, tastings and tours.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the eighth edition of the festival. If you attended events during the week, please tell us about your experience through our 2022 survey below. The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete, and all entries will have the chance to win £500 to spend at Liberty London.
If you weren’t able to fit everything into the week then don’t worry, as we’ve put together an edit of some of the talks and exhibitions that you can catch up on this month.
Exhibitions
Quartet: Goldsmithing in London Now
Until 22 May
Visit Quartet: Goldsmithing in London Now at Sotheby’s; a group exhibition of work by contemporary jewellery designers Sian Evans, Castro Smith, Lucie Gledhill and Christopher Thompson-Royds (above), who are at the forefront of a new generation of goldsmiths. The exhibition showcases the designers’ use of ancient techniques applied with a modern aesthetic. Find out more.
Brodie Neill: Material Consciousness
Until 19 May
LCW 2022 reflected the growing interest in craft from collectors of furniture, decorative arts and jewellery. Don’t miss Material Consciousness: Reshaping the world’s most precious resources, an exhibition of new works by Brodie Neill Studio forming part of Sotheby’s Design series. Explore a new collection of sustainable furniture that reshapes precious resources into a range of collectable design pieces. Find out more.
LCF x LCW
Until 31 May
London College of Fashion, UAL presents a portfolio of craft excellence across footwear, accessories, jewellery, tailoring and artefacts from tomorrow’s 3D thinkers, makers and doers. Featuring 3D products, objets d’art and 2D-crafted content including film, photo, illustration and image making from Bachelors and Masters courses, the physical experience is accompanied by unique digital content. Find out more.
Light Up Your World
Until mid-June 2022
As part of a series of kaleidoscopic collaborations for London Craft Week, The Conran Shop enlisted designer Yinka Ilori to create a colourful installation highlighting the store’s latest outdoor furniture collection. Ilori has worked with LG’s most-advanced OLED televisions to create a series of bold graphic sculptures to encase the devices, bringing his distinctive colour palette to life. Find out more.
The Gallery by the Crafts Council, Edit by Liberty
Until July 2022
Liberty is hosting a curated edit of crafted objects in partnership with the Crafts Council to celebrate LCW. The Gallery is a new shoppable art exhibition showcasing the work of some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary creatives. Situated on the fourth floor of Liberty’s iconic store, visitors are able to view and buy the work of independent craftspeople from across the craft spectrum. Find out more.
Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye at Tristan Hoare Gallery
Until 1 June
Turkish-Danish artist Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye has built an international reputation as a ceramist by modelling bowls. The simplicity of design and perfection of proportion of Alev’s small vessels, glazed in saturated pigments and adorned with delicate detailing around the lip, give them a timeless quality and a surprising gravity. Her solo exhibition is at Tristan Hoare Gallery until 1 June 2022. Find out more.
Plant Explorations at The New Craftsmen
Until mid-June 2022
To mark their 10-year anniversary, The New Craftsmen has invited their makers to reflect upon, and take inspiration from, the evolution and uses of their craft along with the skill and imagination of makers across the centuries, and respond by creating their own unique pieces. ‘Plant Explorations’ delves into the making traditions centralised around plants, and humanity’s ever resourceful, ingenious and imaginative approach to finding practical and beautiful solutions for their needs. Find out more.
Talks
Pioneering Innovation in Making
On 11 May, London Craft Week’s Innovation Partner, The Mills Fabrica, hosted a conversation with Dezeen, the biomaterial innovation company Modern Synthesis and Renewcell, creators of Circulose®, a new natural material closing the loop on fashion. Hear them discuss their explorations and experiments in material innovation and its applications, from furniture to footwear. Watch now.
Break Out Culture: The Crafty Episode
Break Out Culture, Country and Town House’s podcast with culture editor, Ed Vaizey, and associate editor, Charlotte Metcalf, interviewed London Craft Week’s Founder and Chairman, Guy Salter OBE, and co-curator of the V&A’s Fashioning Masculinities exhibition, Rosalind McKever, for a discussion on positioning craft firmly within the cultural mainstream. Listen now.
Be-Spoke: The Vital Art of Commissioning
Bespoke objects and experiences hold great appeal, yet the process of commissioning a one-off piece remains a mystery. Be-Spoke podcast held a panel discussion featuring gallerist Shiro Muchiri; Head of Interiors at Squire and Partners, Maria Cheung, and glass artist Kate Maestri. Together with host Adriana Paice Kent of Woven Spaces, they considered different approaches to the commissioning process. Listen now.
UK Makers and the Stories Behind Their Craft
Artisanal concept store Vigour and Skills hosted a series of live demonstrations and talks during London Craft Week with their community of makers in ceramics, leather, jewellery and rush weaving. Highlights included a conversation between Ginnie Chadwyck Healey and Ruth Rands of HERD Knitwear, exploring circular fashion and British wool, and a talk with jewellery designer Shakti Ellenwood. Watch now.
FiredUp4 Charity Auction
FiredUp4 launched their online charity auction as part of London Craft Week at the Museum of the Home, with an in conversation between Museum of the Home director Sonia Solicari, artist Barnaby Barford, ceramicist Rich Miller and market specialist Marijke Varrall-Jones. Watch the talk via the link below, and click here to discover the auction, which closes on 27 May. Watch now.
Creations Enlivened: Metal
Organised by Crafts on Peel and co-sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (London), Creations Enlivened: Metal showcases the work of traditional craftspeople and contemporary artisans from Hong Kong working across a myriad of metals, including copper, brass, silver, tin and galvanised iron. As part of the virtual exhibition, watch demonstrations in engraving and craft-ligraphy. Watch now.
Image courtesy of Liberty London
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