Unboxing the Collection
An exhibition and events programming developed by guest curator Lewis Dalton Gilbert and Crafts Council
Programme dates:
- Unboxing the Collection: Exploring the Vessel (exhibition), 3 - 4 October, 11.00am - 5.00pm and 5 October, 11.00am - 2.00pm
- Making the Connection: Craft Across Cultures, 3 October, 6.00 - 8.30pm
- Reimagining Narratives, 4 October, 6.00 - 8.30pm
- Behind the Collection: Careers in Conservation, Research & Curating, 5 October, 3.00 - 5.00pm
Where:
Crafts Council Gallery
44a Pentonville Road, London N1 9BY
Unboxing the Collection aimed to create an interactive space for discussion and exploration of Crafts Council's collection.
In the summer of 2024, Young Craft Citizen placement Dafydd Powell Halls led an audit of Crafts Council Collection works, some of which had not been seen in more than a decade. Using these works as a jumping off point, the Unboxing the Collection programme hosted a small series of open discussions and workshops centred around the collection, holding space for conversations which look into the collection’s past, interrogate the purpose and pitfalls of public collections and think about building the future.
Unboxing the Collection is supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation. The programme has evolved out of our work auditing Crafts Council Collection, which is part of our Craft for the People project, generously supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of its Dynamic Collections initiative.
Programming
Lewis Dalton Gilbert is an independent curator and the creative director at A Vibe Called Tech; a creative studio and art consultancy dedicated to approaching creativity through an intersectional lens.
Following his BA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design, he coordinated and produced exhibitions and projects for White Cube and Frieze and is currently the associate curator for New Art Centre, where he previously served as creative director. In 2021, he curated the Hackney Windrush Art Commissions with Thomas J Price and Veronica Ryan OBE, for which Ryan won the Turner Prize.
Recent independent curatorial projects include Liaqat Rasul: NAU, NAU, DOH, CHAAR” at Tŷ Pawb (2024), Francis Offman: Notes from the Heart at La Società delle Api (2024), South by Southwest at Gurr Johns (2024), Pictures of Us at Gathering, London (2023), We Share the Same Sky on Vortic Art (2023), Abstract Colour at Marlborough Gallery (2023) and Peripheral Vision at Anna Schwartz Gallery (2021).
"I am thrilled to be working with the Crafts Council on programming surrounding their ambitious work to ‘unbox’ the Crafts Council Collection. This is an important time for all institutions to introspectively and retrospectively examine how they have collected, to ensure their future reflects the world we live in today. The events we’ve planned will give people much to think about and equip them with tools to create not only new works but also new ways of thinking." - Lewis Dalton Gilbert
