Today we launch the program for the 5th Sydney Craft Week Festival, the first and only festival in Sydney dedicated to making by hand.
Due to current lockdown requirements, the festival will be primarily digital with several exhibitions able to be viewed in local neighbourhoods through gallery windows.
There are 40+ events, including 17 workshops and 14 exhibitions as well as talks and digital launches. The festival will run from Friday 8 to Sunday 17 October.
This year’s theme is the 'value of craft'.
Sydney Craft Week is about celebrating creativity and the handmade in all its forms. This festival creates the opportunity for the whole community to engage with craft, experience the benefits of making, and purchase local handmade work.
Festival Director Lisa Cahill said: “While we would love to be celebrating this festival in spaces right across Sydney, as we have every year since 2017, it is a testament to the makers, the galleries, the people and the organisations who have worked so hard to create digital experiences that we can all enjoy at home."
"The creative capacity of every person involved in this year’s festival is extraordinary. Their resilience and determination ensures that can we have a festival in the midst of a long lockdown.”
Theme
In 2021, the Festival theme is the value of craft.
“Making is part of our DNA. As humans we have always made things – to survive, to thrive and to enjoy. That value of craft is in our capacity to learn new skills, to make things we need and want as humans and to work out ways to make better things that honour our environment. Making helps us to progress and to slow down. The past 18 months have demonstrated how making with our hands helps us to be mentally healthy and withstand that challenges life has thrown at us. Whatever your definition of craft it is undeniable that it has immense value to people, communities and countries.” said Lisa Cahill, Festival Director
Festival Highlights
Exhibitions
Fourteen exhibitions in the program will be featured online including PREVIEW – Sydney Contemporary at Sabbia Gallery, two exhibitions Trashed by Shaun Hayes and Little Bang by Margaret Park and Yukiko Nonaka at Stanley Street Gallery and Barely Wearable by Ruth Downes, Manly Art Gallery & Museum.
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Australia’s oldest design centre, Sturt is proud to present Sturt: 80 Years in the Making.
Also on show are a couple of specially installed window gallery exhibitions. Tapestry Girl Niki McDonald’s exhibition Seemingly Compliant at Traffic Jam Galleries in North Sydney; Barometer Gallery in Paddington with Second Look: handmade textiles.
The Bench Jewellery School Workshop presents the launch of Mill Foundry and jeweller Erin Pearce’s exhibition RECIPROCITY.
Workshops
Seventeen digital workshops including an online Contemporary Aboriginal Weaving course presented by Jaimie Carpenter of Speaking In Colour. Meanwhile Simply Native Japan offers hands-on workshops, connecting online with artisans in Japan so you can experience traditional Japanese craftsmanship.
Learn how to make your own books with Owl and Lion Bindery and improve your jewellery-making skills by joining the Virtual Atelier - Jewellery Making at Home with SquarePeg Studios.
Free workshops and stitch-along with Crafterzoom session and Crafting in 3D with Bronwen Williams.
Live Podcasts, Meet the Makers and more
Meet the makers from Textiles Sydney online and don’t miss Fiona Verity and Julie Nicholson from the podcast Art W**k as they record a live interview with contemporary artist, Billy Bain.
Australian Design Centre will be launching our exciting new podcast Object: Stories in contemporary craft and design also during the Festival.
Explore Sydney Craft Week Festival at the website sydneycraftweek.com
Selected events from Sydney Craft Week 2021
