Category: News

London Craft Week Announces Programme: 3-7 May 2016

A ‘Beyond Luxury’ Showcase

Last year the first London Craft Week launched with 70 events, 20,000 visits and a wide cast including HRH The Prince of Wales, Grayson Perry and 350 makers. From 3 – 7 May the second edition will showcase exceptional craftsmanship from around the world through a journey-of-discovery programme of 129 events across the city, featuring hidden workshops and unknown makers alongside celebrated masters, famous studios, galleries, shops and luxury brands.

The aim being to experience the magic of true creativity, see what real quality means, meet some of the world’s most respected makers and artists and even have a try. Visitors will see world-class fragrances being developed scent by scent, diamonds being cut and polished, porcelain being hand painted, silver being shaped, glass being mouth blown and Chinese calligraphy being performed live. All against the backdrop of the vitality, variety and serendipity of London from Selfridges to Chelsea Physic Garden, from Mayfair to SE27.

An invitation-only VIP programme is run alongside the main programme with a small number of one-off and intimate experiences, including handling objects from museum collections, special access to private residences and exclusive dinners. London Craft Week is supported by founding partner Vacheron Constantin and sponsors Grosvenor and Mulberry.

“London has long had a Fashion Week and a Design Festival.  Now there is London Craft Week, a celebration of the magical combination of imagination, individuality, passion and skill found in the best-made of things.” Guy Salter, Chairman.

2016 Programme Highlights

London Craft Week shines a spotlight on outstanding craftsmanship from around the world, featuring luxury brands including CHANEL, Lalique, Carl Hansen & Son, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, LOEWE, Graham & Brown and Holland & Holland. Two master craftsmen, a watchmaker and enameller demonstrate the skills required in fine watchmaking at the Vacheron Constantin boutique. Grosvenor launches The Grosvenor Series showcasing London’s finest craftsmanship with a series of events across Mayfair & Belgravia, including a ‘Window with a view on Pimlico Road’. Mulberry will host, at their Bond Street store, a celebration of the arrival of the new Johnny Coca design for The Clifton, which is made in England at their Somerset factories. Asprey’s homeware designer, Hakan Rosenius, will host an event to showcase Asprey’s long heritage and current collection of barware including cocktail shakers inspiring a new London Craft Week champagne cocktail, served to audiences at the event. Linley celebrates its 30th anniversary with an artist installation by Michael Eden. The British Fashion Council’s Headonism makers, together with renowned milliners Noel Stewart and Piers Atkinson, at The Dorchester Hotel present the opportunity to buy a bespoke hat, while shoe designer Georgina Goodman takes over Black’s Private Member Club with an installation and pop up shop.

Independent makers such as Julian Stair, Alison Britton and Kate Malone will be talking across various London venues, while artists such as Danny Lane and Simon Moore open their workshops to the public. Furthermore, London Craft Week presents behind the scene tours of collective studios including Standpoint Studios, Vanguard Studios, Second Floor Studios & Arts, Crafts Central and Cockpits Arts as well as individual maker’s workshops such as furniture makers David Gates and Rachael South and silversmiths Smith & Harris, who have completed commissions for artists Anish Kapoor and Marc Quinn.

London Craft Week offers the opportunity to deconstruct and see how contemporary everyday items such as the suit, dress, hat, shoe, knife or book are made.  Intimate, expert-guided ‘How To Buy Bespoke’ tours tackle suits, couture millinery and shoes. Talks on commissioning one-off works and advice from curators on collecting also feature in the programme.

Some of London’s landmark institutions are offering behind-the-scenes tours to look at ‘The Making Behind Buildings’, including The Royal Opera House and The Tower of London, while artist demonstrations and installations will be presented at The British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Design Museum, Geffrye Museum, The William Morris Gallery, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Science Museum. London Craft Week celebrates special moments such as HM The Queen’s 90th birthday with visits to the Patey Hat Factory, the hatters who make the Brigade of Guards’ bearskins, and the saddlers of the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery at Woolwich Barracks. There is also a chance to get the inside track on the making of costumes used in Game of Thrones or King Arthur in a tour of Angels Costumes, recent winners of a BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.

Fortnum & Mason present a showcase of work by designers who have taken part in Walpole’s Crafted mentorship scheme and fashion designers Hussein Chalayan and Alice Temperley will be at Selfridges to discuss ‘The Making Behind Fashion’. World-class chefs demonstrate craftsmanship in the context of food, such as knife-making with Mark Hix at his carving dinner, eating off specially commissioned ceramic plates in the company of Skye Gyngell at Spring Restaurant, and off custom made wooden spoons and bowls with Stevie Parle at CRAFT restaurant.

This year, as well as featuring exceptional British artists, London Craft Week is also premiering national treasures from further afield including Professor Wang Dongling from China, who will be performing his large scale calligraphy at The British Museum; ceramicist Rafael Pérez from Spain exhibiting at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre; Officine Saffi and FattoAdArte (hosted by MADEINBRITALY) Italian galleries that will present pop up exhibitions, Karen Bit Vejle from Denmark whose intricate paper installations will be on view at the V&A and Skandium and pottery demonstrations by Jingdezhen artists at the China Design Centre. A conference at the Heritage Crafts Association brings international makers to London including Ritu Sethi from India and Eivind Falk from Norway. International films will be shown as part of the first annual UK festival dedicated to craft and moving image, produced by the Crafts Council and Crafts magazine, giving a platform to the wealth of films that explore themes of making, makers, materials and process.

London Craft Week interns select their highlights:

Millie – Hole and Corner invited us to watch expert tuners highlight the delicate intricacies of the world renowned Steinway and Son’s pianos as part of their event Piano Craft which also showcased music researchers from Plymouth University, seacmlessly blending the ‘old’ with the ‘new’.

Heather – Being in the presence of such an accomplished master tailor as Kathryn Sargent is one thing, but seeing her work crafting a bespoke suit was a unique opportunity. Taking visitors through the steps of pattern cutting, Kathryn demonstrated her detailed knowledge and extensive experience of the traditional craft.  Breaking all boundaries by becoming the first female head cutter and now becoming the first female master tailor to open her own shop in London’s prestigious Savile Row, Kathryn is leading the way in keeping this traditional craft alive and inspiring a new generation of master tailors.

Eileen – Undoubtedly one of the highlights of London Craft Week was the live art of one of China’s greatest living calligraphers. In the grand Royal Court, at the foot of the stairs, the paper was laid out to the dimensions dictated by the artist. He explained via a translator that his preparations would ideally be preceded by meditation. There was also a flute player, which engulfed us in an aura of ethereal sound redolent of the culture of China. Dressed in black with red slippered feet Wang Dongling stepped onto the paper.  The four foot brush was dipped into the red bucket of black ink. He then worked methodically from top to bottom from right to left until the paper was covered. Wang Dongling is the embodiment of the traditional signature stamp, his red slippers and ink bucket, that familiar interruption to a monochrome work. When he finished he told us that there are more than two hundred characters included in the work, but used in a way to produce a coherent abstract finished piece. The forty-five minutes that it took to complete was seamless and hypnotic. It was a privilege to see a generous performance by this celebrated contemporary artist.

Take advantage of reduced rates at our partner hotels

The Dorchester London:
£550 B&B in Superior King (inc-VAT)
reservations.tdl@dorchestercollection.com
+44 (0) 20 7319 7102

45 Park Lane:
£600 B&B in Superior King (inc-VAT)
reservations.45L@dorchestercollection.com
+44 (0) 20 7493 4545

Reference to quote at time of booking:
London Craft Week

The inaugural London Craft Week saw 78 events with over 27,000 visits from collectors, buyers, as well as those interested in art, craft, and design.

Visitors were able to meet over 368 independent makers, see demonstrations, buy, collect or have a go at making through a journey of discovery programme including studios and workshops as well as shops, department stores, galleries and museums across London.

We are now planning an ambitious programme for 2016 which will run from 3 to 7 May. We look forward to seeing you next year, until then keep in touch through twitter at #LCW2016. 

Applications for the 2015 Crafted Mentoring Programme, with patron Vacheron Constantin and co-sponsored by Redman, Whitely Dixon and Fortnum & Mason, are now open.

Skilled designer makers interested in developing the commercial side of their business with the help of luxury industry leaders will have one month to apply for the programme. Now in its eighth year, the annual Walpole Crafted programme provides one-to-one mentorship and a series of developmental workshops for up to 10 individuals and businesses each year. Applications close on Monday 22nd September. For more information please contact Keri Beak at keri.beak@walpolebritishluxury.co.uk

One moment in the raftered attic workshop above a historic shop in St. James’s learning how the hundreds of small feathers gracing a hat soon to be worn at Ladies Day at Royal Ascot must each be painstakingly placed by hand and individually sewn (no glue for this remarkable national treasure of a milliner). The next at COLLECT gazing with awe into deep depths of a contemporary glass bowl so blue so serene that one could have plunged in; a truly stunning museum-quality work of art whose effortless beauty belied the sweat, technique or genius that went into its making. Or Saturday morning on the Pimlico Road learning how to play (and losing) an impromptu game of Chinese chequers on a board hand-made from Kentish oak that came down in the Great Storm of 1987.

Grayson Perry caught something of the spirit of the last few days when opening London Craft Week on Wednesday, he evoked the ‘relaxed fluidity’ of the happiness of a maker at work or the hard-to-pin down but very human relationship a craftsman has with the material he is shaping, carving or blowing.

But maybe best I leave the last words to two people I met while zigzagging across London. Ndidi, a creative from an ad agency who told me: ‘From today I am a collector. I just had no idea it was so easy or affordable to buy or commission such beautiful things from such talented artists’. And Jake, a twenty-something city-type who said wryly; ‘it’s a bit embarrassing how little I knew or thought about the difference between hyped-up high end stuff and these (cradling a pair of half-finished shoes). Never again..’

Previous Newsletters with top picks of the week
10 May 2015- Robin Wood
9 May 2015-Fashion
8 May 2015- Designers
7 May 2015- Daniel Charny
7 May 2015- Peter Bazalgette
4 May 2015- Frances Sorrell
29 April 2015- Grant Gibson
21 April 2015- Charles Saumarez Smith

Luke
Saturday began with a team catch up over some breakfast early in the morning in Farringdon before we all split up to cover our various duties for the day. Running the social media for a project like this means you’re often married to your computer and mobile phone being as reactive from a remote location as you can to all the flurry of activity across the internet. London Craft Week has been a joy to work on though as I have also been sent to events and exhibitions around the capital to report live and meet the people involved face to face, it’s been the perfect example of how the virtual world of social media and real first hand interactions meet.

My brief but enjoyable encounter for Saturday was to pop into the Crypt Gallery and take in the Make Create exhibition. A cavernous underground setting that feel like it ought to be filled with the interned bodies of noblemen of another century is instead home to an odd assortment of art such as a golden brick gleaming in a polystyrene wall and a doll being clawed at by terrifying clay hands. This exhibition was certainly one of the more left-field things I’d seen at LCW15.

The rest of my day was spent where I could get reliable WIFI and putting my self dead centre of the murmuration of tweets that were flying around the twittersphere and watching the week come to life in the words of the craftsmen and the audience London Craft Week had brought to them.

Marieke

First stop was the RSA Innovation Hub at Fab Lab London. I never knew anything like this existed, what a fantastic resource that anyone can go and use, with 3D printing machines, laser cutters and the like. I used the laser cutter to etch a glass jar, and fashioned a necklace out of old computer parts- felt very creative!

Next up was Wyvern Bindery, a gem of a shop in Clerkenwell, where we had the opportunity to gold foil and stamp our own bookmarks, much harder than it looked.

Lots of fun but had to scoot over to Knightsbridge, where I joined the Crafting London- Sloane Street tour with the lovely Penelope from Fox and Squirrel, visiting Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Smythson to learn more about the craftsmanship of their signature products.

Itala
Gemma Kay Waggett was set up on the ground floor of Heal’s with a group of London Craft Week visitors around a table who were listening eagerly and asking plenty of questions about the craft of screen-printing.  I recognised a lady I had met the previous day at Linley and she had already spent her day productively, attending a number of events and making a purchase at the Cox + Power Open House that morning.

Gemma demonstrated how she creates her signature geometric prints and sensing all of our curiosity she invited us to each have a go at making our own printed notebooks using her design on the front cover.  Many of the guests had backgrounds in textiles and therefore particularly deft hands and printing.  Sadly, I could not say the same for myself!  Nonetheless, the passionate maker reminded us that the subtle differences between each print is what makes them special and differentiates them from mass produced objects which are often just churned out in factories and this is what London Craft Week is about.  Meeting the makers behind these carefully made crafts and experiencing the making process for ourselves, gives one the opportunity to understand the amount of skill and patience it takes to produce them and from the positive reception received, I am certain that many visitors will be considering taking up the craft themselves.

Mark
Morning started with a fascinating talk on Bleigiessen, the Heatherwick Studio installation at The Wellcome Trust by Stuart and the two glass artists who worked on the project: Max Lamb and Peter Jones. The piece at 29 metres tall and constructed from 26,732 cables under tension and 142,070 glass spheres is stunning.
On then to watch one of the masters from Dovecote Studios in Edinburgh demonstrating tapestry weaving in front of the huge Kitaj tapestry at the British Library.

Then to QEST and the Griffin Gallery’s show at the Crypt. An eerie place. The star piece in my book was Carrie Ducker’s 200+ steps. At F&M lovely to see the eponomous Michael Ruh (the subject of BBC4’s wonderful Make:Glass released last week) in Crafted’s show.

On then to CAA’s wonderful pavilion in Southwark. Bravo to the Arts Council for helping them out!
Then back north to Trunk’s welcoming store and Japanese belt master Takaharu Osako and their delightful neighbours, the jewellers Cox & Power.

Home for a couple of hours to The New Craftsmen to sing the praises of the stunning Made of Mayfair collection and then down to our amazing installation with Floris in “The Mine”. Quite the coolest place I’ve been to at Craft Week! Well done Floris and Katharine May.

Finally off to Sarah and Gerard Griffin for what was THE evening of Craft Week. Their home contained the who’s who of all the best of British Craft – in form and in person. Lovely to meet up with Sam and Valerio from Gallery Fumi and to catch up with Marthe Armitage and Julian Stair to name just a few. Sarah, Gerard you are stars!

Marieke
Made in Clerkenwell at Craft Central, and Cockpit Arts Open Studios both provided plenty of great opportunities for the photo shoot today.

Saw the talented Helen Beard doing her ceramic decoration demonstration, and managed to control my urges to buy everything, and came away with just a vase, bowl and earrings!