London Craft Week 2021

Postponed from earlier in the year, the 7th edition of London Craft Week is positioned to make up for lost time with a stellar line-up of craft excellence across the capital

More than 250 established and emerging craft makers participate in the 7th annual London Craft Week (4-10 October 2021). Textile and rug related participants include Vasco Aguas who merges macrame with weaving; tapestries and rugs by Christabel Balfour; Rakhee Shenoy’s UK-India interior textiles studio that uses industry waste yarns and Sylwia Orynek’s weaves that combine craft and design engineering with an emphasis on novel materials and methods.

Event highlights include:

Can craft create happiness? More statement than question, the concept of happiness twinned with handmade craft is widely accepted. William Morris understood the value of craft, and more recently Matthew Crawford described working with your hands as ‘soulcraft’. Life enriched by craft is the crux of the Country Life panel discussion at Chelsea Barracks ‘Why Craft Makes You Happy’ on 4 October. Designer and architect Ben Pentreath is joined by designer Ben Johnson and Country Life editor Giles Kime to discuss the finer points of how to be craft happy. A post event video of the discussion will be available on the Country Life website.

Sarah Ward of Lark & Bower takes part in Craft by Residency curated by Future Icons and NAT MAKS at North Arcade, Islington Square, Upper Street. Ward is showing her intricate off-loom work woven by hand with needle and thread and double ikat pieces woven on a loom which were featured in COVER online earlier this year.

Interior design studio Elicyon hosts ‘The Contemporary Tapestry’, a panel discussion at Chelsea Barracks featuring Geraldine Larkin, Bernie De Le Cuona, Miles de Lange and Charu Gandhi. The panel discusses ‘what contemporary tapestry looks like in interior schemes today, how it straddles craft and art, why fabric can be considered “liveable” tapestry and the delicate process from artisan to abode.’

Designer Anya Hindmarch in conversation with journalist Lisa Armstrong discusses ‘The Importance of Craftsmanship in a Post-Pandemic World’. The event is followed by a Q&A and takes place 7 October at Hindmarch’s new retail concept ‘The Village’ on Pont Street.

Vigour & Skills is ‘an artisanal concept store’ hosted by Anthropologie at their King’s Road Gallery. The multi-day (4-10 October) free event features live demonstrations of craft including weaving.

FLOOR_STORY x Matt Collins is a new collaboration with two new rugs on exhibition at FLOOR_STORY’s East London showroom. Collins and Crafts Council creative director Natalie Melton is at the showroom on 6 October for a live Q&A followed by a showroom tour with FLOOOR_STORY founder Simon Goff.

Emma Tennant x Soane Britain. The Pimlico showroom of Soane Britain features rag rugs made by British artist Emma Tennant. Featuring traditional scenes of bucolic country life—including foxes, flowers and farmyard animals— each wool rug is hand hooked by Tennant on a wooden frame.

Designer Robert Kime opens his London showroom on 7 October to showcase the skills of their craftsmen who care for and restore antique Persian rugs. The event is open throughout the day and the team will be on hand to answer questions.

Ochre’s inaugural collection of Ochre Wild rugs features Indo-Tibetan hand-knotted rugs and dhurrie flatweaves. The collection is on view at Ochre’s Pimlico Road showroom during London Craft Week.