The Making of Coventry

Heritage Crafts has teamed up with Creative Lives for a programme of events and on-air coverage of crafts in Coventry, to coincide with Coventry City of Culture. We are grateful for funding by Coventry City Council.

From January until March, The Making of Coventry will feature a series of craft workshops and on-air content focusing on how making has defined the city in the past and continues to do so today; from the wool and leather trades, through ribbon making, and watchmaking, through to car and bicycle making,

Coventry is a city steeped in craft skill, and that legacy continues to this day with these skills and and many more. We will be using this opportunity to celebrate the role that making plays in keeping us healthy, happy and engaged with the material and social world around us, and its contribution to local distinctiveness and place.

on 26 March a flagship event at Drapers Hall will combine influential and inspiring talks, demonstrations of craft skills and opportunities for you to take part.

If you would like to take part in any way, please contact Daniel Carpenter at [email protected] today!

 

Making Places

When: Saturday 26 March 2022, 10am to 4pm
Where: Drapers Hall, Coventry, and other nearby venues

Making Places is a one day event as part of The Making of Coventry, a partnership project between Heritage Crafts and Creative Lives, funded by Coventry City Council, and coinciding with Coventry City of Culture.

The event will combine:

• Keynote speakers (to be confirmed)
• Panel discussion
• Craft demonstrations
• Repair Café
• Craft Cinema
• Craft activities
• Tour of the craft collection at The Herbert Gallery & Museum
• Tour of crafted objects at Coventry Cathedral

CLICK HERE TO BOOK

 

Hairy Barge Event

When: Saturday 26 March 12.30pm to 3.30pm
Where: Coventry Canal Basin

A number of talks and workshops at the intersection of heritage, craft and contemporary art to mark the arrival of Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre‘s Hairy Barge into Coventry; bringing our straw harvest to the communities that will help to transform it this Spring/Summer into the Hand Earth Gesture Return public art installation.

Learn more about the programme and how you can get involved.

 

Craft Workshops

If you’re curious to try your hand at some heritage crafts, you’re in luck! Our partner Creative Lives will be hosting a series of craft workshops in different venues across Coventry as part of the project. Participation is FREE and open to everyone in Coventry (check eligibility requirements when registering):

• Weaving workshop – 17 February (10.30am – 12.30pm) FULLY BOOKED
• Ghanaian Waist Beads workshop – 23 February (1pm – 3pm) FULLY BOOKED
• Gold Embroidery workshop with Hanny Newton – 10 March (3pm – 5.30pm) FULLY BOOKED
• Leather craft workshop with Nigel Armitage – 15 March (2.30pm – 5.30pm) FULLY BOOKED
• Eco dying and slow stitch workshop – 24 March (1.30pm – 3.30pm)
• Gold embroidery workshop with Hanny Newton – 26 March (1.30pm – 3pm) FULLY BOOKED

 

Coventry Craft Stories

As part of our The Making of Coventry project in partnership with Creative Lives (part of Coventry City of Culture), we are putting out a call for people of Coventry and the surrounding area to tell us about stories of making in their families, whether that was in the city’s past, or from other places in the world their families might originate from.

Did your ancestor or family member work in one of Coventry’s iconic industries such as ribbon weaving or car manufacture? Or perhaps they worked from home in a ‘cottage industry’ or as an independent artisan working in a workshop? Perhaps you are involved in making of some sort and this activity you share with your family member or ancestor gives you an insight into their life, or makes you feel closer to them in a way that just hearing or reading about them might not?

We are hoping that some of the best stories might feature on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio as well as being showcased at a special event at Draper’s Hall in Coventry on Saturday 26 March 2022.

If you have a story to tell, please let Daniel know at [email protected].

 

Craft Cinema at The Making of Coventry

Deadline: 25 February 2022

We are seeking submissions of short films (under 30 minutes) for the craft cinema at Making Places on 26 March 2022. The Craft Cinema will showcase the best of UK heritage crafts, both historic and practiced today, focusing on both Coventry and the rest of the UK. The theme of the the event is how crafts contribute to local distinctiveness and a sense of place through time.

Categories:

• Films about craft in Coventry and surrounding areas (historic and/or practiced today)
• Films about heritage crafts practised elsewhere in the UK that show how making contributes to local distinctiveness and a sense of place through time

Click here for more details, including how to submit your films