London Craft Week 2018: the cherries on the cake

Since its inception in 2015, London Craft Week has gone from strength to strength. Its debut event comprised 60 craft-focused happenings taking place all over the capital; fast forward four iterations and that offering has almost quadrupled.

In May 2018, London Craft Week attendees revelled in 227 different demonstrations, exhibitions, workshops and events. The greater the number of events, the greater the diversity. London Craft Week now attracts brands and makers from all corners of the world – the 2018 edition being the most international yet. A whopping 25% of participating makers journeyed to London from outside of the UK to take part.

In terms of craft disciplines on show, the 2018 iteration was also the most diverse yet. One minute festival-goers were learning the art of casting and moulding Jesmonite tiles, the next they were throwing their own bricks.

With so much to see and do, even if you made it to a handful of events on this year’s programme, you’ll have barely scratched the surface of what unfolded over those five days. To help you get your head around what was on offer – and start creating a mental hit list for 2019 – we’ve compiled a lowdown of some of the highlights.

The LOEWE Craft Prize

Dame Helen Mirren presented the second LOEWE Craft Prize to Scottish ceramic artist Jennifer Lee for her curiously titled stoneware vessel Pale, Shadowed Speckled Traces, Fading Ellipse, Bronze Specks, Tilted Shelf. Lee, who scooped 50,000 euros as winner, was selected by a jury that included LOEWE creative director Jonathan Anderson; president of the World Crafts Council Rosy Greenlees; director of the Design Museum Deyan Sudjic; industrial designer Patricia Urquiola; and 2017 winner Ernst Gamperl. Special mentions went out to French textile artist, Simone Pheulpin and Japanese potter Takuro Kuwata. 

Although London Craft Week is done and dusted for another year, you still have time to catch the work of all 30 LOEWE Craft Prize finalists. Head to the Design Museum before 17 June to see the display.

Many Many Crafts

The sheer diversity of craft disciplines featured in London Craft Week 2018 gave festival-goers a taste of an astonishingly broad spectrum of making techniques. Designer Bookbinders and the St Bride Foundation teamed up to offer hands-on introductions in wood-engraving an illustration, setting type, printing and traditional bookbinding. Multidisciplinary artist Stephanie Tudor dropped in on the Institute of Making tolead a workshop on casting and moulding Jesmonite tiles. Deakin and Francis in Piccadilly introduced visitors to the 2,000-year-old practice of vitreous enamelling. The award-winning designer Genevieve Bennet introduced Home House visitors to the contemporary interlacing techniques used in leather braiding; and the team behind the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station even showed attendees how to throw their own bricks.

Bigging up the Masters

Some participants used London Craft Week as an opportunity to explore the lives and works of legendary figures in art and craft.

White Cube Gallery enriched its current exhibition of Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes with an exclusive tour and a talk from weaving studio Ateliers Pinton, discussing the challenges of transforming Milhazes’ work into three-dimensional textile art.

The New Craftsmen chose to showcase the work of British designer, teacher and painter Peggy Angus, accompanying a selection of her hand- blocked wallpapers with an exhibition of new work in sculpture, figurines, decorative bowls and plates, block-printed fabric, drawing and collage from contemporary makers Aude van Ryn, Alex Sickling, Jo Waterhouse and Laura Carlin.

Up Close and Personal

A number of events gave people first-hand insights into some of the most closely guarded techniques in modern craft.

Studio Furthermore took over MADEINBRITALY’s Little Venice Gallery to share the secrets of ‘lost foam’ ceramics techniques. The Art Workers’ Guild shone a light on the techniques and talents behind the craft of British millinery, showcasing pieces from the likes of Phillip Treacy and Stephen Jones. William & Son gathered eight artisanal watchmakers at its Bruton Street boutique to demonstrate the intricate art of horology (and unveil the latest timepieces shown at Baselworld).

The jeweller Shaun Leane took visitors behind the scenes of its atelier and design rooms to reveal the journey from design concept to finished piece. QEST and the Heritage Crafts Association gathered 20 accomplished craftspeople at The Carpenters’ Company to demonstrate techniques from the worlds of woodworking, leatherwork, silversmithing, basketry, letter cutting and more – including John Makepeace OBE.

In Chelsea, 12 retailers each explored the theme of texture for Grosvenor Britain & Ireland’s Pimlico Road Series, with events ranging from basket making demonstrations at Colefax & Fowler to exploring traditional techniques of texturing metal at Cox London.

Home of Craftsmanship

London Craft Week headline sponsor dunhill, in collaboration with Hole & Corner, welcomed hundreds of visitors to their Home of Craftsmanship at dunhill’s Mayfair flagship store Bourdon House. Over four days, dunhill’s leather craftsmen demonstrated their skills alongside glass artist Michael Ruh, metalworker Alex Pole, weaver Maria Sigma, ceramicist Florian Gadsby and wood artist Mark Reddy – and visitors were able to try their own craft skills with spoon-carving and bookmark-making workshops.

For more on London Craft Week check out their Instagram here.