London Craft Week (LCW) returns from 9th – 15th May 2022 for its eighth edition, bringing people together to experience a curated programme of events across the capital.
The programme includes over 300 events, showcasing work by more than 400 independent makers from 25 different countries. This year’s festival focuses on the concept of Creative Freedom – celebrating the raw power and energy of creativity that allows us to express our individuality and identity. Events include workshops, immersive experiences, pop-up stores and exhibitions, and span the fields of craft, fashion, art, design, luxury, food and beauty.
LCW 2022 will feature the first-ever Country Pavilions, presenting work by talented makers from countries including Malaysia and Norway
The programme will showcase global craftsmanship, shine a light on artistry in fashion, collectible design, champion innovation and sustainable forms of making and celebrate British artist-makers to coincide with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Year.
Highlights include:
- A group exhibition of contemporary jewellery using ancient techniques at Sotheby’s
- A Maker’s Market at The Royal Exchange
- A series of activities around Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear exhibition at the V&A
Guy Salter, Chairman of London Craft Week said: “From the first edition of London Craft Week in 2015, we wanted to be a practical link to what we call the ‘Iceberg of Creative Talent’, championing the world’s artists, makers, and designers, some hidden below the surface, others household names, but all world-class. The last two years have seen them grow in number and their work become even richer. But many still remain undiscovered. Hence us redoubling our efforts this year to draw as much attention as possible to those extraordinary men and women hidden away in workshops, studios and at home in London, across the UK and around the world, creating exceptionally special things”.
Craftsmanship
Celebrating London’s continued significance as a global cultural centre and LCW as a platform to share international perspectives, for the first time this year, the festival will present a series of curated Country Pavilions showcasing work by talented independent makers, artists, studios and workshops from Malaysia and Norway.
The Pavilions will provide a unique platform for visitors to discover crafted objects within the context of their own provenance and purpose. Highlights include a large-scale exhibition of Royal Pahang Silk Weave presented by HM Queen Azizah of Malaysia, who has been an ambassador for the vanishing craft of silk weaving in Malaysia for more than two decades. Over this period Her Majesty has worked to rebuild the silk weaving industry in Pahang, to protect this important heritage.
At Cromwell Place, Norwegian Crafts will be collaborating with Oslo-based multidisciplinary platform and artist group PYTON to present an exhibition of pioneering works by up-and-coming creatives, juxtaposed with unsung heroes of the last 100 years, from Norway’s collectible design, craft and art scene. The gallery space will be divided into several room typologies as a nod to the building’s history as a former residence, creating a stage for Norwegian art and design from the twentieth century to the ultra-contemporary.
Artistry
Providing an insight into both the history of craftsmanship in the fashion industry and a renewed appreciation of these practices in contemporary fashion design, materials and making, LCW 2022 will feature both established and emerging talent from the industry, alongside leading institutions, and luxury brands.
Highlights include a patchworking workshop led by British fashion designer Daniel w. Fletcher, a showcase of new discoveries in raw materials by London-based Brazilian designer Joao Maraschin at The Mills Fabrica and a presentation of London-based Argentinian Fashion Designer Clara Pinto’s FW22 collection at The Argentine Ambassador’s Residence. Pinto is known for her celebration of non-traditional materials including bio-plastic, raw wool, and animal by-products to create intricate experimental textiles that explores human corporeality.
In collaboration with the V&A Museum and its exhibition Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear, LCW will present a programme that challenges conventional expectations and taps into the unprecedented creativity in men’s fashion, with workshops and demonstrations from independent designers, tailors and artists. Highlights include, a contemporary cordwaining masterclass with shoe designer Helen Kirkum, known for her transformation of deadstock materials into artisanal sneakers; a demonstration by emerging female tailor Kimberley Lawton, who is pushing the boundaries of traditional Savile Row suiting; and a masterclass with hand engraver and jeweller Castro Smith.
Collectables
Reflecting a growing interest in craft from contemporary collectors of furniture, decorative arts and jewellery, LCW 2022 will feature a curated series of exhibitions showcasing the best of crafted collectible design. Sotheby’s London will present Quartet, a group exhibition of work by contemporary jewellery designers – Sian Evans, Castro Smith, Lucie Gledhill and Christopher Thompson-Royds, who are at the forefront of a new generation of goldsmiths. The exhibition will bring together the work of these designers and makers who are celebrated for their use of ancient techniques applied with a modern aesthetic, including ancient cast-making, intaglio carving and chain-making.
Sotheby’s London will also present Material Consciousness: Reshaping the World’s Most Precious Resources, an exhibition of new works by Brodie Neill Studio. The exhibition will showcase a new collection of sustainable furniture, that reshapes some of the world’s most precious resources into collectible design pieces.
The spotlight on collectible design will continue in galleries across the city, with exhibitions such as Creations Enlivened: Metal presented by Crafts on Peel, an exhibition showcasing works by Hong Kong and Japan-based artisans working with a myriad of different metals.
Sustainability
Highlighting the relevance of craft to the global sustainability agenda, LCW will showcase brands and makers that offer future-facing solutions which embrace considered use of materials and innovative ways of making.
Building on the success of their 2021 programme, LCW are pleased to announce that The Mills Fabrica will rejoin LCW as its Innovation Partner in 2022. A landmark platform advancing a new generation of emerging brands and start-ups that are pioneering sustainable forms of making, The Mills Fabrica will offer a curated programme of demonstrations, workshops and retail experiences hosted at their UK headquarters in King’s Cross, showcasing innovators and makers who are breaking new ground in the AgTech and TechStyle industries.
The programme also seeks to provide a platform for emerging designers and makers practising today. The New Craftsmen will present Plant Explorations, an exhibition featuring the work of weaver Catarina Riccabona, woodworker Cyriaque Ambroise, and basket maker Tim Johnston. Cockpit Arts will showcase works by embroiderer Kamilah Ahmed, whose work is inspired by traditional Bengali Jamdani muslin sari weaving, and woodcarver Clunie Fretton, who recently collaborated with the V&A to produce a partial replica of Grinling Gibbons’ famous lace cravat. Ting-Ying Gallery will present their inaugural presentation of work by Chinese ceramicist Lu Bin, who was named as finalist for the 2022 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, alongside ceramic works from the Icheon region at Chelsea Harbour’s Design Centre. Lifestyle brand TOAST will showcase an exhibition of ikat fabric works by emerging textile artist Jacob Monk at their Newburgh Street, Carnaby menswear shop.
For further programme details and tickets please visit www.londoncraftweek.com
See also: The Other Art Fair Presents 150 Game-Changing Artists
