The Craft Edit - Oct 2023

Celebrate the exciting news happening this month in the Scottish contemporary craft world, including new appointments and prestigious award recipients. Also, learn about the World Crafts Council Europe's report on the European Crafts sector.
 

Read on with October's The Craft Edit. 

Image: Charlott Rodgers / Photography by Neil Hanna

Photography by Roman Kraft via Unsplash

World Crafts Council Europe reports on the €50 billion market of the European Crafts sector

According to a report published this month by World Crafts Council Europe, the most frequently purchased crafts by European consumers are ceramics, textile craft, woodworking craft, and jewellery, with glass and leather craft following suit.

The findings are part of a new study on the European craft market, commissioned by WCCE and developed by Ohayō Brand Curation. This in-depth study provides a clear profile of craft consumers and systematic insights from makers and crafts experts, offering an overview of the sector as well as giving a deeper understanding of the European crafts market.

The report is available to the public and can be downloaded on the WCCE website. This is the first of 5 reports which will be released between 2023-2025 under the EU co-funded CRAFTING project.
 

Image: 'Sounding Line' by Mella Shaw / Photography by the artist

Edinburgh-based artist Mella Shaw wins British Ceramics Prize

Congratulations to Edinburgh-based ceramic artist Mella Shaw, who has been announced as the winner of the British Ceramics Biennial's £10,000 Award - the UK’s largest prize for ceramics.  

Mella’s winning piece, titled Sounding Line, is a large-scale sculptural installation that highlights the overuse of marine sonar and its devastating impact on deep-diving whale species. It is currently, on show at the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent until 5 Nov 2023.

Award at All Saints Church (ST1 3HH), until Nov 2023. Open daily from 10am-4pm.

‘Sounding Line’ will be coming to Scotland later in the year, visit the exhibition at Summerhall in Edinburgh from 1 Dec 2023 - 25 Feb 2024.

Image: Charlott Rodger / Photography by the artist

Image: Annie Warburton / Photograph by Cockpit Studios 

Annie Warburton Becomes First Female Clerk and CEO at Goldsmiths’ Company

This month it was announced that Annie Warburton, CEO of Cockpit Arts and former Creative Director of The Crafts Council, is to take up the role of Clerk and CEO at The Goldsmiths’ Company, where she will be the first female Clerk in the Company’s 700 year history.

Annie, a respected specialist in contemporary craft, with more than 20 years’ experience in creative industries, will leave Cockpit at the end of the year and will begin her new position in January 2024.