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Two trainee craftspeople needed

Two trainee craftspeople needed

Are you a stone mason, letter cutter, wood carver etc?

Would you like to be taught how to gild using gold leaf by a master craftsperson?

The Heritage Crafts Association has an opportunity for two people to learn the endangered craft for free in Greenwich, south London, on August 6th and 7th.

You need to be able to get into London on these days, travel costs covered but not accommodation.

Please say how this would be used in your craft and reply with contact details and phone number by Friday 27th July to admin@heritagecrafts.org.uk if you’d like to be considered for this unique opportunity.

Opportunity now closed.

 

 

A fabulous exhibition of works at Manchester Craft and Design Centre

A fabulous exhibition of works at Manchester Craft and Design Centre

Charcoal burning

Sharon Blakey, Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Three Dimensional Design, Manchester School of Art, reports on Endangered Crafts, the collaborative project between the HCA and Manchester School of Art.

Endangered Crafts, which was based on the HCA’s Red List, culminated in a fabulous exhibition of works at Manchester Craft and Design Centre in May. Over 150 students from across the School participated in the project, with selected works exhibited as part of the School of Art’s Unit X Festival.

As expected the range of responses to the theme of ‘endangered crafts’ was wide ranging and design teams responded to the brief in original and unexpected ways. The Tradition Meets Technology team juxtaposed the handcraft skills of knitting, crochet and embroidery with a range of production technologies. Jaimie-Lee Wainman’s ceramic and 3D printed stacking bowls enable the user to hand embroider the outer skin of each vessel, developing knowledge of basic stitch methods whilst facilitating a contemplative act of making. Emma Bradburn wove together delicate strands of glass which were then slumped in the kiln and embellished post firing with hand threaded silk yarn, and the tasselled sculptural wall pieces by Textiles in Practice student Remy Storey were an interpretation of the detail, colour, scale and composition found in traditional passementerie.

Embroidery vessels: Slip cast ceramic, 3D print, embroidery silk

A number of teams relished the opportunity to learn new skills and processes. Neptunian, for example, were motivated by research into ancient coracle making, developing a flat-pack, self-assembly version for use during family holidays and outings. Sasuke embraced the art of blade making, learning how to forge steel to make a Japanese inspired kitchen knife using locally sourced oak and Damascus steel. Charcoal burning was the inspiration for a second year team who designed and built their own charcoal burner and  produced a film to document the process. Influenced by charcoal’s properties of neutralising and purifying the air, Interactive Arts student Jourdana Duoba, combined ground charcoal with recycled paper to produce artefacts intended to reduce domestic odours when placed in interior spaces.

Students commented positively upon the value of the experience, with one student noting, “Unit X has helped personal discovery about my professional practice. Having the chance to hone skills and learn new ones made this project the highlight of my first year”.

Greta Bertram, former trustee of the HCA, who attended the final event was delighted with the outcome “…it was really interesting to see which crafts had inspired the students and the wide array of ways in which they had responded to the HCA/Radcliffe Red list.  Working with the School of Art has been a really great experience.”

Contemporary passementerie, mixed media

Woven bowls: slumped glass, embroidery silk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photographs copyright Manchester School of Art

Update on Manchester School of Art’s Endangered Crafts project

Tuesday 20th March was the ‘Big Crit’ day for students involved in the Endangered Crafts Unit X project at Manchester School of Art, which has been inspired by the HCA’s Red List. First and second year students on the Textiles in Practice (TIP) and Three Dimensional Design (3DD) programmes, as well as students joining the project from fine art, film making and interactive arts came together to share their findings so far.

Students have had inspiring input from Steve Dixon, professor of Craft, Alice Kettle, professor of Textiles Arts, Martyn Evans, professor of Design, as well as talks and workshops by designers Silo Studio and artists Hwa Young Jung, Brendan Dawes, Zoe Robertson and Ismini Samanidou. It’s been a fruitful three weeks with much discussion and debate around what and why a craft is on the ‘Red’ list and how the students want to develop their ideas using the research they have generated so far to inform the next stage of the project. The Big Crit saw students proposing ideas and presenting prototypes and test pieces to demonstrate their thinking.

A wide variety of work has been produced so far – from marbled paper to samurai sword making at first year level, and from proposing new applications for endangered practices to inventing new ways of thinking about the production of craft products at second year level. A very positive and interesting day for all, and a great start to the project.

Students are looking forward to the start of the summer term where groups will materialise their thinking through making in preparation for the Unit X Festival and opening night at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre on Wednesday 9 May at 5:30pm.

https://www.instagram.com/msoa_3ddesign/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/msoa_tip/?hl=en

Professor May Cassar becomes Patron of the HCA

Professor May Cassar has recently accepted The Heritage Crafts Association’s invitation to become a Patron. Professor Cassar joins an existing group of Patrons who support the HCA and its fundraising and campaigning work through their individual public profile.

Professor May Cassar is the Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage.  May currently directs the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology, a multi-million pound UK Government investment to educate to doctoral level the next generation of heritage scientists.  As the Director of the Arts and Humanities Research Council/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Science and Heritage Programme (2007-2014) and as Special Adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry on Science and Heritage (2005-2006), May has led the resurgence of heritage science research activity in the UK over the last decade for which she has been recognised by the Royal Warrant Holders’ Association with the award of the Plowden Gold Medal in 2012.  May was until December 2015, founding Chairman of the UK National Heritage Science Forum and is currently a member of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Science Advisory Council.  At an international level, May has worked on projects with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, European Parliament, European Commission and National Governments to develop strategic approaches to the preservation of cultural heritage.  May’s long-standing area of research interest is preventive conservation with a particular focus on the impact of climate change on cultural heritage.

Professor Cassar joins existing Patrons Lord Cormack, Sir Christopher Frayling, Kaffe Fassett, Emma Bridgewater, Mark Henderson, Dr. Alex Langlands and Paul Martin. The Patrons of the HCA are the public figureheads of the charity and play an important part in helping the Association support and promote heritage crafts as a fundamental part of our living heritage. The HCA looks forward to continuing to work with its new and existing Patrons and is profoundly grateful for all they do to help heritage crafts.