8 craft exhibitions to see in the UK this November
Material Worlds: Contemporary Artists and Textiles
Everyday fabric is the medium uniting this exhibition’s set of artists, who use their vision and skill to transform material into dramatic artwork. Curator Caroline Achaintre has put together a wide range of works that show the potential of textiles to carry meaning and ignite conversations about the body, heritage, identity and more.
Until 15 December at Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick
The Art of Carnival Arts: Mahogany Carnival Design
This celebration of carnival arts focuses on the work of designer Clary Salandy and Mahogany Carnival Design, the multidisciplinary group she formed with engineer Michael Ramdeen in 1989. The group’s showstopping costumes and wearable sculptures are a fixture of the famous Notting Hill Carnival but were also a feature of the London 2012 Olympic ceremony.
Until 23 January 2025 at the The Gallery, AUB Campus, Bournemouth
John Hoyland, Sorcerer, 1994. Courtesy The John Hoyland Estate Paloma Proudfoot, The Mannequins Reply, 2023, an exhibit for Material Worlds. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Rob Harris
John Hoyland: Imaginary Beings
‘These mad little hybrids’ is how abstract painter John Hoyland described the set of 25 ceramic works made at the Royal College of Art in his sixties. Seen for the first time since they were made in 1994, the joyful and creaturely works are inspired by the artist’s travels and show a freer way of working compared to the style he was known for exploring in the 1980s.
22 November 2024 – 16 March 2025 at Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
House Guests: Words to Live By; Words to Live With
The decorative art mecca of David Parr House has a new exhibition based on words. Artists including Joke Amusan, Marice Cumber and Issam Kourbaj have been asked to respond creatively to the unique Arts & Crafts interiors of the house, and to contemplate the power of the words and phrases that we choose to keep in our daily lives.
Until 6 December 2024 at David Parr House, Cambridge
Made from this Land by Emma Edmondson
Southend’s historic associations with brick making are explored in this set of public artworks –made with the local community from over 500 handmade bricks. Artist Emma Edmondson learned the craft of traditional brickmaking to create columns and wall sculptures for the coastal city, working with local ceramicists to create slips and glazes from local seashells.
Self-Made: Reshaping Identities
What is your true identity? It’s a complex question that sits at the heart of this ceramics exhibition at London’s Foundling Museum. The show will feature works from four major artists – Phoebe Collings-James, Rachel Kneebone, Matt Smith and Renee So – who wield the malleability of clay to capture the myriad of factors that contribute to one’s sense of self.
15 November – 1 June 2025 at Foundling Museum, London
Bound: An Embroiderer’s Story
This exhibition at Brixton events venue Downstairs brings together 15 contemporary embroidery artists, each aiming to display the power and versatility of needlework. Co-curated by Cockpit maker Claire de Waard, the show will feature other prominent names such as Woo Jin Joo and her fantastical soft sculptures, and Hannah Refaat’s hand-stitched accessories.
7-13 November at Downstairs at the Department Store, London
Hot Mess
Coming as part of the Sainsbury Centre’s Why Do We Take Drugs? season, Lindsey Mendick’s Hot Mess exhibition offers an uncompromisingly honest look at the artist’s relationship with antidepressants and alcohol. Before you go, make sure to read the Q&A with Mendick in our Autumn/Winter 2024 issue, in which she shares more about the show’s themes and what it takes to create such deeply personal work.
23 November 2024 – 27 April 2025 at Sainsbury Centre, Norwich