Introducing the inaugural LCW Country Pavilions
For the first time this year, London Craft Week presents two curated Country Pavilions, reinforcing the festival as a platform for sharing global perspectives and shining a spotlight on London as an international hub for encountering outstanding makers and creativity from around the world.
This year’s inaugural Pavilions will focus on Malaysia and Norway and visitors are invited to discover exceptional crafted objects within the context of their own provenance and purpose.
Country Pavilion: Malaysia
In the Malay language, ‘Tenun’ translates literally to ‘the act of weaving’. The 300-year-old craft of silk weaving originates in Pahang, Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Malaysia’s royal seat and the most expansive state of the Malayan Peninsular.
Tenun Pahang: Weaving Hope is a large-scale exhibition of Royal Pahang Silk Weave at the Malaysia High Commission presented by HM Queen Azizah of Malaysia, who has been an ambassador for the vanishing craft of silk weaving in Malaysia for more than two decades. Her Majesty has worked to protect and rebuild the silk weaving industry in Pahang, and now runs a social enterprise which trains prison inmates in Pahang in a vocational skill that offers them a future livelihood. Curated by Judith Clark, the exhibition will include archival fabrics from the Museum of Pahang as well as a selection of HM Queen Azizah’s own garments and personal silk collection.
The exhibition is open daily from 9–15 May 2022 at the High Commission of Malaysia.
Guided tours run each day at 11.30am and 3pm and can be booked through the LCW website.
A roundtable discussion with Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Malaysia will take place on Saturday 14 May. Tickets can be booked through the LCW website; limited spaces available.
Country Pavilion: Norway
PYTON is a multidisciplinary exhibition platform and artist group in Oslo showcasing historic and contemporary Norwegian craft, art and design that are pioneering within their field.
Founded in 2019, in response to growing interest in collectible design, craft and art from the contemporary Norwegian scene, PYTON is led by Henrik Ødegaard, Richard Øiestad, Tron Meyer and Are Blytt. Their exhibition space in Oslo aims to be a pioneering platform for exhibition concepts, inviting up-and-coming designers, craft makers and artists to a common space, juxtaposed with leading figures from the past.
For London Craft Week 2022, by invitation of Norwegian Crafts, Richard Øiestad and Are Blytt from the PYTON team curate an exhibition in Gallery 5 at Cromwell Place. The gallery space is divided into several room typologies as a nod to the apartment it once was, using this as a catalytic idea for creating a stage for Norwegian art and design from the 20th century to the ultra-contemporary. The selection spans design, fine art and noteworthy craft objects, commissioned and curated, including work by artists such as Lina Viste Grønli, Sigve Knutson, Gunnar Havstad, Elisabeth Haarr and Synnøve Anker Aurdal.
The exhibition is open daily from 11–15 May 2022 at Gallery 5, Cromwell Place.
For more information about the LCW 2022 Country Pavilions, visit our Featured Projects page.
Image courtesy Royal Pahang Weave Foundation
