About

An exhibition on Britain’s heritage crafts and contemporary design coming to art’otel London Hoxton this May. Curated by Freddie Armstrong and Joe De Ferranti, the newly formed studio will be presenting work from makers they met on their 1,300 mile walk across the length of Britain. This will also include additional QEST (The Queen Elizabeth Trust) & Heritage Crafts alumni. From tanning, turning & weaving to printing, engraving & stitching, the show presents the spirit of the handmade and the importance of its protection.

Slow Ways is a project that was born through a curiosity; to see what could be learned when time is taken and attention is paid. The walk took three months, an adventure following Britain’s footpaths and bridleways, from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Across moorland, wetland, forest and dale; over hill and mountain, through storm and gale, they covered 1,300 miles from the foot to the head of this isle. The aim was to document heritage crafts, to map a constellation of makers across the country, whose practices have an increasingly fragile future.

Freddie: “We wanted to learn why keeping these skills alive has value beyond the constant push for ‘progress’; why using our hands to make, anchors us in the muscle and memory of being human. Craft joins an important set of rituals which demonstrate our bond to the living world. Creation by hand works within a timeframe that supports the natural order, and yet has become radical in today’s standards of production.”

The project was in support of two phenomenal charities: QEST (The Queen Elisabeth Trust) and Heritage Crafts. The former providing funding and training opportunities for makers looking to develop their skills, the latter to support critically endangered crafts from going extinct.