Craft connoisseurs and makers will be thrust into the spotlight during London Craft Week next year.
The inaugural event, launching on May 6, will bring together a programme celebrating craftsmanship across the capital.
Founder & Chairman of London Craft Week, Guy Salter, explained that hidden spaces and little-known makers will be recognised alongside celebrated galleries and luxury brands.
He said: “London has long had a fashion week and a design festival and from 2015 it will have the equivalent for the craft sector – London Craft Week.
“Featuring the artistic flair, painstaking skills and raw talent of exceptional craftsmanship and, as a result, attracting an ever-increasing quality and volume of collectors and customers.”
London Craft Week will challenge the perceptions of craft and showcase the ingenuity of craftsmen and makers through a ‘seeing is believing’ programme of activities, demonstrations and exhibitions.
Visitors will have special access to studios and workshops, galleries and shops and will be able to engage first-hand with the process of making in a variety of different ways.
The V&A, Crafted, Savile Row, COLLECT and Contemporary Applied Arts, among others, will also host their own in-house activities
Set up as an independent non-profit initiative supported by founding partner Vacheron Constantin and strategic partners the Mayor of London, the Crafts Council, Walpole British Luxury and the Heritage Crafts Association, London Craft Week will run from May 6-10 .
Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, said “London Craft Week will provide an essential platform for the 35,000 craftsmen currently working in the UK who turn over £1 billion to showcase their skills and demonstrate globally why London is the world’s creative capital.
“The event will feature the best makers and ensure that the skills they employ are valued for innovation, quality and prestige.”
Picture courtesy of MadHatterr via Flickr, with thanks
