Crafts upcoming programme

Crafts membership is changing. Learn more about these changes. Rest assured that while these improvements are being made to our website, online system and membership offering, members can enjoy uninterrupted access to benefits, including events, as normal.

Through our in-person and online events, we bring Crafts members together with the most exciting and influential figures in UK contemporary craft. From book clubs to panel discussions, visits to Crafts Council Collection and Gallery, plus much more, we'll keep you immersed in and inspired by craft. It's all free for Gold and Silver members, while we release a small number of paid tickets for selected events to our Bronze members and the general public.

For as little as £4/month, you can enjoy free access to our year-long programme and the ability to watch or listen back to our recorded events on demand - plus reminders of forthcoming events in our members' newsletter.

Upcoming events

Birkenstocks x Crafts Council, Craft-led workshops - Gold and Silver tier members

We’re excited to invite Gold and Silver tier members to book their free space to this special event in collaboration with Birkenstock, where you'll have the chance to customise your own pair of shoes, hosted by a creative facilitator. These hands-on sessions are a unique opportunity to get creative, learn from an expert, and make your footwear truly one-of-a-kind. Spaces are limited, so don’t miss your chance to be part of this exclusive experience.

Workshop participants are encouraged to either bring a pair of existing Birkenstocks to customise, or they will be able to purchase a pair at the event.

John Booth: Exploring Harmony in Shape and Colour
28 August, 6-8.30pm, Birkenstock, Dray Walk, London, E1 6QL

John Booth was born in Scotland in 1984 and raised in Cumbria. He moved to London in 2004, where he graduated with a BA in fashion print design at Central Saint Martins in. He has since taught as a lecturer both at Central Saint Martins as well as at the University of Westminster. Booth has worked for several fashion brands including Zandra Rhodes, John Galliano, Ashish, Christopher Shannon and most recently, Globetrotter, Fendi and Paul Smith.

Gold and Silver tier members, click here to book your complimentary place

Craft After Dark
18th September, 6-8pm, Crafts Council Gallery, London, N1 9BY

This event is the first of a regular gathering for the Crafts Council membership community. Craft After Dark will bring together members across the Crafts Council community for a relaxing evening of engaging activities, creative discussion, networking with fellow craft lovers and warm celebration.

Join us for a new kind of event for members, Craft After Dark, a recurring series featuring networking, making sessions and the chance to meet one another, leading figures in the craft sector and Crafts Council team.

Coinciding with London Design Festival, the first edition of this new programme will be held in Crafts Council gallery in London and will be an opportunity to celebrate the launch of Crafts Council's new membership offer. Attendees will be able to drop-in to a series of activities through-out the evening including a paper-collage workshop led by multi-disciplinary maker Eloisa Henderson, speed networking, the Maker's Wall, drinks reception, editorial activation and more. Members will also be able to meet our Membership team in person and ask your questions to our Associate Editor, Anna Fielding

Come meet us after hours in the gallery and discover more about the new Membership with Crafts Council.

Our first Craft After Dark explores the theme of Belongings—a word that speaks not only to the objects we hold dear, but also to the ways we find connection, identity and community through craft. This event invites attendees to consider how making and materials can help us feel rooted, whether through personal keepsakes, cultural traditions, or shared experiences. As we gather in the gallery for an evening of conversation, hands-on making, and collection-handling, Belongings becomes a lens through which we reflect on what it means to be part of a community—what we carry with us, what we share, and where we feel we belong.

Tickets to this event are free for members or £10 for non-members. Book here

Tour of The Sleepers exhibition at The Women's Art Collection
9 October, 4-5pm, Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DF

Join us for a tour of the exhibition The Sleepers at The Women's Art Collection in Cambridge. Led by Laura Moseley, Assistant Curator of The WAC, members will have the opportunity to view works by 12 artists exploring sleep, rest and dreams, including the Community Quilt by Cait Moreton-Lisle with support from two Cambridge based community groups: the Cambridge Women's Resource Centre and Sew Positive.

Beginning at 4pm, members will meet Laura and the Crafts Council Membership team at the gallery entrance. Laura will guide you through the exhibition and there will be time at the end of the tour to ask her any questions. The tour will end at 5pm, with the option for members to spend further time in the exhibition until 6pm.

Tickets to the event are free for members. Book here

Past events

July 2025

Tour of the Brookfield Properties Craft Award 2025 exhibitions - Gold and Silver tier members

31 July, 4-4:45pm, Starting at 99 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3XD and travelling to 30 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 5DX

Gold and Silver tier members enjoyed an exclusive tour of the Brookfield Properties Craft Award 2025 exhibitions, on display at the venues 99 Bishopsgate and 30 Fenchurch Street. Led by the exhibitions' curator, Director of Arts and Events for Brookfield Properties Saff Williams, attendees had the opportunity to discover the history of the prestigious prize and learn more about the work of this year's winning artist, Ebony Russell. Beginning at 99 Bishopsgate and ending at 30 Fenchurch Street, this event took attendees on a tour across two exceptional exhibitions within the heart of the City of London.

Tanvi Kant: Stitching and Reinventing Much Loved Textiles
24 July, 6-8.30pm, Birkenstock, Dray Walk, London, E1 6QL

Members enjoyed a free space to this special event in collaboration with Birkenstock, where there had the chance to customise their own pair of shoes. This hands-on session was a unique opportunity to get creative, learn from an expert, and make their footwear truly one-of-a-kind.

Tanvi is an interdisciplinary artist who repurposes textiles through elemental hand-construction techniques by unpicking, wrapping, coiling, knotting, and stitching sculptural textile forms. Fabrics have been sourced from tailors, seamstresses as well as saris from her circle of family and friends. By re-working an array of textiles, evocative of personal and often private histories materials of sentimental value or simply tired looking, unwanted items of textiles are transformed through an intuitive materials-led approach. She is based on the South East coast.

June 2025

Elizabeth Fritsch exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield & Talk: New Ceramics: Radical Legacies since the 1970s

27 June, 5-6pm, The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield, WF1 5AW

Coinciding with the opening of their annual Ceramics Fair and celebrating the Elizabeth Fritsch retrospective exhibition, we were pleased to partner with The Hepworth Wakefield to bring together an exciting group of artists and ceramics specialists for a special round table discussion. Members had the opportunity to attend the exhibition and talk focused on legacy of Fritsch's cohort of 'New Ceramic' graduates from the Royal College of Art in the late 1970s. Speakers included Alun Graves, Senior Curator of Ceramics & Glass, V&A as well as 'New Ceramic' artists Jacqui Poncelet and Glenys Barton. The exciting conversation was chaired by writer and previous Crafts deputy editor Isabella Smith.

Charlotte Kidger: Transforming Industrial Waste Materials - Craft-led workshop, Birkenstocks x Crafts Council - Gold and Silver tier members
12 June, 6-8.30pm, Birkenstock, Dray Walk, London, E1 6QL

Members enjoyed a free space to this special event in collaboration with Birkenstock, where there had the chance to customise their own pair of shoes. This hands-on session was a unique opportunity to get creative, learn from an expert, and make their footwear truly one-of-a-kind.

Charlotte is a “Maker” whose practice is led with a hands-on approach to investigating how industrial waste materials can be reprocessed and transformed into sculptural and functional objects. She is an experimental material-lead designer whose work is driven by the urge and curiosity to transform often unwanted and valueless materials into desirable and functional objects. Charlotte is also co-founder of creative studio, Studio TIP which shines focus on material re-use and local system based thinking through hands-on and accessible practices including circular workshops and public installations.

May 2025

Craft in the Collection: Matt Smith in conversation with The Bowes Museum
28 May 7-8pm, online event
Members joined us online for a conversation with the multi-disciplinary artist Matt Smith and the Bowes Museum. In the context of the exhibition, From Joséphine Bowes: Trendsetters and Trailblazers at the Bowes Museum, which features a loan from Crafts Council Collection, Study in Pink & Gray by Smith, the artist and the Bowes team will discussed the artistic vision of Joséphine Bowes alongside the significance of craft within the Bowes Museum Collection.
Gold and silver Crafts members and Bowes Museum members enjoyed a complimentary ticket.

This talk was recorded and will be available for members to view soon.

Anna Perach, drinks reception and exhibition tour - Gold and Silver tier members
16 May, 6pm-7.30pm, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London
Anna Perach’s debut at Richard Saltoun Gallery transforms the space into an immersive environment, showcasing new performative tufted sculptures, watercolours, and a site-specific installation that reimagines fairy tales through a contemporary feminist lens. Drawing on mythology, folklore, and social history, Perach weaves cultural memory, personal narrative, and myth into powerful explorations of identity and heritage.

Gold and Silver tier members enjoyed a tour of the exhibition by the artist with a drinks reception.

Ceramic Art London Private view - Gold tier members
8 May, 6pm - 8.30pm, Olympia West, London, W14 8U
Organised by the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain, Ceramic Art London has evolved into an unparalleled platform for ceramic art, welcoming around 6,000 visitors from over 30 countries each year.
This remarkable event thrives on the exceptional talent of its 120+ exhibitors, from all over the UK and abroad. Unlike traditional gallery showcases, Ceramic Art London places the spotlight directly on the makers, creating a vibrant celebration of global craftsmanship and creativity. From functional works that elevate the everyday, to striking decorative pieces and abstract creations that challenge the imagination, Ceramic Art London offers something for everyone.

Gold tier members enjoyed a complimentary invite to the private view.

April 2025

Studiomama: craft-led workshop, Birkenstocks x Crafts Council - Gold and Silver tier members
29 April, 6pm-8.30pm, Birkenstock, Dray Walk, London, E1 6QL
Studiomama is an East London-based multidisciplinary design studio founded by the creative couple Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama in 2000. Studiomama combines a sustainable ethos and an exploratory, playful approach, with a portfolio encompassing architecture, interior design, jewellery, exhibition design, curation, products and furniture.

Members enjoyed a free space to this special event in collaboration with Birkenstock, where there had the chance to customise their own pair of shoes. This hands-on session was a unique opportunity to get creative, learn from an expert, and make their footwear truly one-of-a-kind.

Book Club with Norwegian Crafts, discussing The Vessel: Craft in public spaces
29 April, 7pm-8pm, Online via Zoom
This online conversation with editors Ida Højgaard Thjøme and Marianne Zamecznik discussed The Vessel’s eighth issue, Craft in Public Space.

This edition explores how craft enters public spaces, serving as a platform for care, activism, and community through materiality. Despite its longstanding yet often overlooked role in public art, the documentation of craft in these spaces remains incomplete - a theme explored in this issue.

This talk was recorded and will be available for members to view soon.

March 2025

Jacqueline Poncelet, brunch and exhibition tour - Gold and Silver tier members
15 March, 11am - 12.30pm, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London
Following her acclaimed retrospective In the Making at MIMA last year, this exhibition marked Poncelet’s first solo show in London in over twenty years, presenting over five decades of her pioneering practice. A significant figure in the New British Sculpture movement, Poncelet transforms the decorative into a feminist critique, redefining minimalism through bold explorations of identity, materiality, and cultural value.

Gold and Silver tier members joined us for a relaxed, standing brunch and the inspiring morning was the opportunity to mingle and chat with the artist and gallery Directors, followed by a tour around the exhibition led by the artist.
In person: 15 march

Great Pottery Throw Down panel discussion with Keith Brymer Jones, Freya Bramble-Carter and Stuart Carey
4 March, 6pm - 9pm, Crafts Council Gallery

Since it first aired, The Great Pottery Throw Down has captured the nation’s imagination, inspiring a new wave of ceramic enthusiasts and breaking down barriers to the craft. But what is it about the show, and ceramics, that has resonated so deeply? This panel discussion explored the show’s influence on the nations relationship with clay —its role in making pottery more accessible, attracting a diverse range of people to the wheel, and shifting perceptions of ceramics as both a passion and a career. This panel unpacked how the series has shaped the UK’s relationship with clay, from rekindling forgotten skills to opening doors in the industry.

Speakers were British potter and expert judge Keith Brymer-Jones, ceramic artist and former semi-finalist contestant Freya Bramble-Carter and Technical Director of The Kiln Rooms Stuart Carey. The panel was chaired by journalist, broadcaster and author of Clay: A Human History Jennifer Lucy Allan. The evening also included an opportunity for guests to visit our Collections store and Handling Collection.

This talk was recorded and is available for Crafts members to watch here

February 2025

Collect
The leading international art fair for contemporary craft and design at Somerset House, London. Gold and Silver members enjoyed an exclusive 2 for 1 ticket offer. 28 February – 2 March

December 2024

Book Club: Julian Stair in conversation with Glenn Adamson

On 9th December renowned potter Julian Stair discussed a new book about his work Memory, Material, Ceramics, by Ashley Thorpe.

This talk was recorded and is available for Crafts member to watch here

October 2024

Crafts Autumn/Winter 2024 Issue On-Sale Silver and Gold tier members received their print copy of the magazine starting 14 October 2024. This issue offered a delightful mix of features, including a focus on the makers behind showbiz, the challenges of working with wool, and an exploration of the negative connotations of the word ‘hobby’. Find your copy with one of our many stockists worldwide.

Delaine Le Bas at the Whitworth in Manchester and Crafts Autumn/Winter 2024 Issue Launch Party The launch of the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of Crafts took place at the Whitworth in Manchester, featuring a conversation with Turner Prize nominee Delaine Le Bas, who was interviewed in the magazine. Le Bas, whose work addresses themes of nationhood, land, belonging, and gender across various media, spoke to Crafts members and other guests about her life and artistic practice on Friday, 18 October at 6pm. This event followed the opening of her Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain and took place just ahead of the December announcement of the winner. In person, Whitworth in Manchester, Friday, 18 October, 6pm
This talk was recorded and available for members to listen to here.

Meet Crafts in Manchester The Crafts team hosted a stand at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester, where Crafts members enjoyed a 2-for-1 discount on tickets and had the chance to connect with the team. In person: 17-20 October, Victoria Baths, Manchester

Book Club: White Pube in Conversation On 15 October Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de la Puente, the art critics behind the blog The White Pube, joined an online discussion of their new book Poor Artists. They addressed why so many pursue careers as professional artists despite growing financial barriers, sharing insights into a contemporary art world often fraught with competition and elitism. The White Pube duo, who have gained an international following since starting their blog in 2015, shared anecdotes from their experiences and discussed Muhammad’s interview with Turner Prize nominee Delaine Le Bas, featured in the current issue of Crafts. Online: 15 October, 6pm
This talk was recorded and is available for Crafts members to watch here

This Country: Caroline Lucas in Conversation with Edmund de Waal Campaigner, writer, and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas discussed her new book Another England: How to Reclaim Our National Story with artist and writer Edmund de Waal. Their conversation explored themes of migration, culture, and identity, which have been central to de Waal’s projects, such as The Library of Exile. This was the inaugural event in This Country,, a year-long Crafts program exploring English identity and culture through craft. Online: Thursday, 24 October, 6pm
This talk was recorded and is available for Crafts members to watch here

September 2024

Collection Store Grand Opening with Jacqueline Poncelet Attendees were among the first to see inside the Crafts Council's stunning new collection store—a dynamic space where the public could explore and appreciate extraordinary works of craft. A range of makers with pieces in the national collection of craft joined the celebration, including acclaimed artist Jacqueline Poncelet, who guided guests through some of her work, including those featured in her recent retrospective at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. Thursday, 5 September, 6-9pm, Crafts Council Gallery, London N1
This event was free for Crafts Gold members

Making It: What Does Craft Need from the New UK Government? Ahead of Labour's first party conference since taking power, a panel convened to discuss the public policies the craft sector needs to flourish and how the Crafts Council could support it. Guests heard from textile artist James Fox, writer and lecturer Charlotte Warne Thomas, founder of jeans brand Blackhorse Lane Ateliers Han Ates, and interdisciplinary artist and scenography maker Grace Lee, who were among the speakers on this panel. The discussion was chaired by Crafts Council’s executive director, Natalie Melton. This was the first in a series of Crafts online talks and articles titled Making It, focused on the future of the craft sector and professional practice. Online: Wednesday 11 September, 6pm
This talk was recorded and is available for Crafts members to watch here