August Craft Month shows how Craft touches on all

The eighth annual celebration of craft, co-ordinated by Craft NI is the largest ever, with more than 100 events taking place throughout Northern Ireland showing how craft’s influence touches on all aspects of life including politics, the environment, business, cultural tourism and education.

In Ballymoney, jeweller Diane Lyness will teach participants a range of techniques including soldering, shaping, piercing, texturing and polishing. Each participant will design and make a beautiful silver bracelet to take home.

The August Craft Month 2014 launch will take place at the Naughton Gallery at Queen’s University, Belfast on July 31 with the opening of two outstanding new shows, Hidden Agenda: Socially Conscious Craft, a Crafts Council Collection exhibition and Material Subversion. The former is a Crafts Council UK touring show exhibited for the first time in Northern Ireland.

Craft NI Chief Executive Alan Kane said this thought-provoking new exhibition exemplified the relevance that high quality, contemporary craft has to wider society.

“Craft occupies a central role in our lives, providing jobs, income, tourist opportunities, a sense of place and community and of course beauty and pleasure. For this year’s August Craft Month we are focusing on the makers themselves, the importance of craft and the relationships that have been forged with other important sectors including business, tourism and education.

“Since August Craft Month began it has grown steadily and now covers all parts of Northern Ireland, offering high quality exhibitions, workshops and talks. We would urge people to find out what’s on offer in their local area, visit a gallery, learn what motivates the makers and try a new skill,” he said.

For full details of all August Craft Month events, visit the Craft NI website: www.craftni.org and click on the August Craft Month section. To find out about all the makers and events in your area, click on the interactive craft map.