About

Join a tour with artist Loraine Rutt of her exhibition in The Director’s Gallery at 1 Kensington Gore. Maps can excite, engage, inspire, motivate and document history. Playing with scale and volume, whether it’s a pocket globe putting the world in your hand or topography with amplified relief, Loraine’s new work celebrates the craft of mapping Earth.

The Royal Geographical Society, which was founded in 1830 to advance geographical science, is the UK’s learned society for geography. The Director’s Gallery, which is housed within this Grade II-listed building, is not normally open to the public. The Society have generously agreed to host exclusive exhibition tours with the artist Loraine Rutt for London Craft Week. Tour places are strictly limited and booking is essential. 

Recently selected as a Master Craftsman by Homo Faber, and elected as a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society, Loraine’s practice is honed by three decades of fine clay yielding to fingertips, using improvised tools to create surfaces with map-like clarity. Combining cartography with traditional ceramic techniques, her intriguing limited-edition globes and wall reliefs are inspired by satellite data, astronaut observations, historic cartography and social research. Her pieces have been described as ‘work which excitingly illustrates the fusion of Concept, Content and Traditional Craft’.

Commissions include special editions for The Fife Arms, Linley, an Apollo 15 astronaut, and a bespoke pocket globe for The Royal Observatory. World Skills Organisation commissioned a series of pocket globes which were presented to world leaders, and museum purchases include The Museum of London and The National Maritime Museum.

Open Studio
The Arches Studios, 48–50 Blenheim Grove, Peckham, SE15 4QL
Visit the atmospheric railway arch studio and globe emporium of Loraine Rutt, aka the Little Globe Co. Explore the process of the intricate world of ceramic map-making and get a glimpse into how globes are made. Much of Loraine’s work is made to commission, and a studio visit is the ideal opportunity to talk through ideas.