12 craft exhibitions to see in the UK this November
1 November 2021
Pack your days with spirit-boosting culture this autumn, with the help of our guide to the best craft shows to see across the UK.
Waste Age: What Can Design Do?
It’s no secret that we live in a throwaway culture. But how can we transform mountains of waste into wonders? This is the question posed by the Design Museum’s latest exhibition – and with the COP26 Climate Change Conference kicking off this week, it has never been more timely. Look out for corn husk veneers by Fernando Laposse, who will be speaking at Crafts magazine's online panel discussion Healing hands: Could makers help regenerate the earth? on 8 November.
Until 20 February at the Design Museum, London
Basketry: Rhythm, Renewal & Reinvention
Ruthin Craft Centre’s three galleries are currently full to the brim with work by thirty-five makers, in an exhibition that aims to show the sheer range of contemporary basketry in Britain. Look out for its spotlight on endangered and near-extinct forms of basket, as identified by the Heritage Crafts Association.
Until 9 January at Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin
‘We Gather pays homage to a traditionally under-presented ecology, economy and legacy of craft, created by Black and Asian women in Britain,’ say curators Rosie Ross and Griffi, who have masterminded the latest exhibition at the Crafts Council Gallery. The title refers to the gathering of ideas, skills and emotions embedded within the craft practices of the five featured makers: Francisca Onumah, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Shaheen Ahmed and Onome Otite.
17 November – 12 March at the Crafts Council Gallery, London
Artist Stephanie Smart fashions life-sized Regency-era garments and footwear using only paper and thread. Each piece is created using the historic craft of paper quilling, which involves carefully rolling and gluing paper – in this case, to imitate intricate embroidery and lace. See the collection at Surrey’s Chertsey Museum.
6 November – 26 February 2022, Chertsey Museum
Based around the Seven Sisters Dreaming stories (ancient sagas about the creation of the Australian continent), Storylines was developed over five years in collaboration with Aboriginal communities across the country. The show features paintings and objects by over 100 First Nation artists, including grass and wool baskets by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers social enterprise, alongside intricately carved wooden bowls, shields, spears and ceramic vessels.
Until 27 February at The Box, Plymouth
The great ceramic artist Madgalene Odundo has turned her hand to curating for this exhibition at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum. Fifty years ago, Odundo travelled from Kenya to Cambridge in order to study – and found herself deeply inspired by pottery in the city's museums. Here, she brings together pieces from around that globe that had the greatest impact during this formative time.
Until 24 July at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
This exhibition at The Arthouse in Wakefield brings illuminated sculptures by neon artist Fred Tshchida to Europe for the first time and is curated by his former student Richard Wheater. Head over to nearby 7a, a project space belonging to Neon Workshops, which Wheater founded 20 years ago, to see Sphere: a vast, rotating circular piece filling its warehouse space.
Until 28 November at The Arthouse, Wakefield, and Neon Workshops Projects Space 7A
Hornet, hailstone, crab eye, aerodrome… (etc.)
Ceramic artists Aaron Angell and Steve Claydon present the results of a 60-hour firing in an anagama kiln in this joint show at the Holburne Museum in Bath. The exhibition’s full title comes in at 500 words, inspired by poetic mistranslations of Japanese wood-firing techniques.
Until 3 January at Holburne Museum, Bath
Detail of Untitled by Bushra Waqas Khan, 2019. Photo: Rafay Anwer Creative Studio Prayer Is My Mail by Hadeyeh Badri, 2019. Photo: Alex Younger
Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics
The latest edition of the Jameel Prize is celebrating design inspired by Islamic traditions. Head to the V&A’s Porter Gallery to discover work by eight designers hailing from India, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK. Discover more in the November/December issue of Crafts magazine.
Until 28 November at the V&A, London
What is the most exciting embroidery being created today? That’s the question that the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery aims to answer in this exhibition across three floors of the Bargehouse Oxo Tower in London. Alongside the cutting-edge contemporary examples, be sure to seek out its selection of historic stitched work from around the world.
3–7 November at the Bargehouse Oxo Tower, London
A craft installation has popped up at the UN Blue Zone at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow: a school of 350 mirrored hand-blown glass salmon, suspended in space. Artist Joseph Rossano organised makers from across the Pacific Northwest, Norway, Japan and the UK to blow the glass – an infinitely recyclable material – into this travelling piece, acting as a reminder of the need for cold, clean water in our warming world, as fish numbers decline. Food for thought indeed.
Until 12 November at the United Nations Climate Change Summit, Glasgow
Fifteen craftspeople who call the capital home are the focus of this show at the Museum of London. Celebrating the latest in a long lineage of metropolitan makers, the line-up includes ceramic artist Claire Partington, designer Yinka Ilori and jewellery artist Romilly Saumarez-Smith.
Until 24 February at the Museum of London
