The National Centre for Craft & Design

My main reason for going to the National Centre for Craft & Design (nccd) at Sleaford at the end of April was to attend the symposium ‘Making it relevant’, but it was also hosting two interesting exhibitions so it turned out to be a busy day.

The symposium was aimed at makers and explored career paths and routes to practice. It was opened by Lesley Millar talking about the roots of contemporary textile artists and how what we produce today is based on what has been done in the past. Several makers then described their work and the routes they have taken. Sue Blatherwick spoke about her father’s ceramic practice. Sarah O’Hana talked about her jewellery practice and the laser techniques she uses. Ruth Singer described how she had changed from a career working in museums to become a craft practitioner and writer. Karina Thompson and June Hill told us their experiences of being part of a mentoring scheme. Gail Baxter described her routes to practice as a lacemaker and showed how the boundaries of contemporary lace are expanding, for example with the installation of the lace umbrella made of luminescent thread in Kensington Palace by loop ph, for which she had been an advisor. Emma Daker of Craftspace spoke about that organisation and the exhibition ‘Made in the Middle’ one of the current exhibitions at the nccd, of which she is the curator.

After lunch there were three useful concurrent practical sessions on exhibiting, social networking for makers, and advancing your career. I went to the exhibiting session with Liz Cooper and Laura Mabbutt from nccd which was full of useful tips about approaching galleries and curators.

We also had time to have a quick look at the Made in the Middle exhibition which showcases contemporary craft from across the Midlands; I particularly liked Imogen Luddy’s ceramic plates incorporating lace doilies. The other exhibition was Transplantation, which included the work of Australian and UK jewellers on the theme of migration. I found Jo Pond’s work based on her home, which used to house a community of nuns who taught needlework to young girls, very interesting, especially the way she incorporated references of their lives into her jewellery.