Crafts Study Centre
University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, GU9 7DS
25 June 2024
Convened by Stephen Knott
Curating Craft to Engage Audiences was a closed seminar held at the Crafts Study Centre (CSC), University for the Creative Arts (UCA), Farnham, on 25 June 2024. Ten contributors were invited based on their interest and activity in the field of craft curation, sharing their experience and ideas on how make craft exhibitions appeal to broad audiences. In attendance were Dr Imogen Hart (Oxford Brookes University), Dr Stephen Knott (Crafts Study Centre), Helen Ritchie (Fitzwilliam Museum), Dr Loucia Manopoulou (University for the Creative Arts), Eva Masterman (Newcastle University), Professor Cat Rossi (University for
the Creative Arts), Dr Jana Scholze (Kingston University), Dr Abi Shapiro (Hepworth Wakefield) and Julia Stephenson (National Glass Centre).
The event started with a tour of the CSC followed by short presentation by each speaker about an example of craft curation they found notable, such as an exhibition they had been involved in, a piece of writing on curation, or the display of a single work. The case studies were not intended to be examples of good practice but a springboard for further discussion about the scope and parameters of craft curation. The themes that emerged from these presentations formed the basis of an open roundtable in the afternoon. Discussion centred on the unique opportunities presented by curation of craft exhibitions, namely: how craft exhibitions emphasise embodiment, their accessibility due to the closeness to everyday life, and their potential to foreground the sensorial, narrative and live collaboration with maker communities.
