An AHRC funded research project exploring diversity and expertise development in the contemporary craft economy
I was really pleased to talk about my book from the Craft Expertise project, Craft as a Creative Industry with Professor Dave O’Brien on The New Books in Critical Theory podcast, part of the New Books Network. Listen on the website here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/craft-as-a-creative-industry
We are pleased to share the full recordings from the Craft Expertise reflection event, which took place at Birmingham City University on 23rd March 2023. It was an enjoyable and stimulating day with fantastic contributions from everyone. Thanks to our students Mohammed Ahmed (Yusuf), Daniel Spooner and Ryan Jones for filming and editing. Also a … Read More “Videos from the Craft Expertise reflection event” »
Our final project event will be taking place at Birmingham City University on March 23rd. At the event we will reflect on the impact of the project and talk about what more needs to be done to make the craft sector more inclusive. The event will also include a launch of the ‘Craft Economies and … Read More “Final project event taking place March 23rd 2023” »
This year Birmingham City University (BCU) have won two awards for excellence in diversity and inclusion, and both recognised the work of the Craft Expertise project and the We Gather exhibition. In November 2022 BCU picked up the award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion at the 2022 Multicultural Business and Community Champion (MBCC) awards. … Read More “Craft Expertise and We Gather featured in BCU award wins” »
Here are some photos from the launch of the We Gather exhibition, which was on at the Crafts Council Gallery until 12 March 2022. The exhibition was commissioned by the Craft Expertise project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and features new work by Shaheen Ahmed, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Francisca Onumah and … Read More “Photos and visitor comments: We Gather Exhibition” »
As part of the Craft Expertise project we commissioned five makers to create pieces of work related to the project themes of diversity and inequalities in craft. This work will be shown at the Crafts Council Gallery as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. The artists are Shaheen Ahmed, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, Francisca Onumah … Read More “We Gather exhibition” »
The recording of the ‘Making Changes in Craft‘ event, which took place on 29th June 2021, is now available to view below. The recording includes subtitles.
On Tuesday 29th June 2021 project lead Karen Patel presented the findings and recommendations from Phase 1 of the Craft Expertise project at the event Making Changes in Craft. The final report, available to download here, is the culmination of two years of research with makers from around the UK. The aim of the first … Read More “‘Making Changes in Craft’ report, and Craft Expertise Phase 2 launch” »
We are holding two events in the next month as part of the project: Artist work in progress – tackling racism and inequality in craft. Tuesday 25 May, 2pm. Register on Eventbrite In this event, the five artists we have commissioned to produce work for an exhibition at the Crafts Council gallery in November 2021 … Read More “Upcoming events: Work in Progress (25 May) and Making Changes in Craft (29 June)” »
On Tuesday February 16th we held an online event for this project in which I presented further findings from the research, gathered some more ideas for action to address inequalities in craft, and got to hear from some fantastic craft artists we are commissioning. You can watch my research presentation portion of the event below. … Read More “‘Tackling racism and inequalities in craft’ event and second working paper” »
