About

During London Craft Week 2026, the RCA will be hosting a pop-up Well-Making Space open to the public in their Design Bar space in Battersea. The event will be a place to craft and connect, celebrating the diversity of backgrounds and concerns of RCA Applied Art students. They warmly invite visitors to engage in craft-making activities that aim to uplift mental health and well-being.

Well-Making represents a heartfelt commitment to applied and engaged research, emphasising collaboration and creativity with partners, participants, and community groups. It encourages us to reflect deeply on the processes, places, people, and materials that come together in our shared creative journey, fostering a supportive and nurturing environment for all.

The 2023 Creative Health Review, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing and the National Centre for Creative Health, characterises creative health as employing creative methods and activities to enhance health and well-being. Creative health contributes to illness prevention, promotes healthy habits, supports the management of chronic conditions, and aids in treatment and recovery throughout life.

The Well-Making Space activities are being organised by staff and students from the Applied Arts department at the Royal College of Art. This encompasses students and staff from MA Jewellery & Metal, MA Ceramics & Glass and MFA Arts and Humanities.

BOOKABLE WORKSHOPS
Email: community@rca.ac.uk

Malleable meditation
Explore how senses mould creativity – a tactile clay workshop led by Yellon Huang.
Duration: 25 minutes
Workshop times: 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm

Bojagi – Korean Quilting
Learn to sew small patchwork squares using adapted techniques from traditional Bojagi – Korean Quilting. Led by Karen Lechelt.
Duration: 1.5hrs
11am & 1pm

Soul-Creature Ritualistic Whistles
Clay whistles have long echoed as the “singing Mother Earth.” Learn to shape air-dry clay into soul-creatures, transforming these vessels into sacred companions whose call gently summons emotional balance and a return to one’s truest self. Led by Tami Zafeiropoulou and assisted by Tali.
Duration: 1.5hrs
11am & 1pm

DROP-IN WORKSHOPS

The Second Life of Fragments: Sustainable Mosaic Workshop
Redefining ‘waste’ by transforming abandoned ceramic fragments into functional, handcrafted homeware using traditional mosaic techniques. Led by Verona Shi and Yang Zhou.
Duration: 1hr

Use your Noodle: Poetic Pasta
Explore poetry and prose through pasta and clay, led by Sophie De Carvalho.
Duration: 45 minutes

Unfolding Surprise: Chinese Paper-Cut Window Decorations
Create traditional Chinese symmetrical paper-cut window decorations using folded paper and simple cutting techniques. The workshop focuses on process, surprise, and symmetry, revealing unexpected patterns when the paper is unfolded. Led by Feifei Cheng & assisted by Yang Chen.
Duration: 45 minutes