SCW 2025 - Apply Now
Sydney Craft Week Festival 2025 - Call for Applications
Applications are now open until 15 June 2025 for the 9th Sydney Craft Week Festival. Makers, galleries, shops, associations, libraries, councils and other organisations are invited to apply.
The Festival will be held from 10 to 19 October 2025.
We’re looking forward to seeing your entries to make this the best festival yet.
Festival events have referenced an annual theme relevant to making and makers and their place in the world.
The theme for 2025 is ‘material intelligence’.
In announcing the theme, Festival Director, Lisa Cahill said, "Craft practitioners have a deep understanding of materials, and the skills needed to work with those materials, to manipulate them, combine them and source them to make things. Intelligent use of materials for craft also needs to consider environmental sustainability including the lifecycle of material use. In many ways I think material intelligence is a counterpoint our lives increasingly lived online with artificial intelligence rapidly doing many of the things we once considered human skills".
Lisa asked ChatGP what it thought and here is the response.
The idea of “material intelligence” as an antidote to artificial intelligence (AI) is a thought-provoking concept, depending on how we define material intelligence. If material intelligence refers to human creativity, emotional awareness, and connection to the physical and natural world, it may indeed serve as a counterbalance or complement to AI’s digital and algorithmic nature. Here’s why:
- Emphasizing Human Connection
Material intelligence involves our ability to interpret, respond to, and interact with the physical world in ways AI cannot. While AI processes data and generates outcomes based on learned patterns, it lacks the intuitive, tactile, and emotional depth humans derive from the material world. This human intelligence is critical in grounding our decisions, ensuring AI remains a tool rather than a controlling force. - Creativity and Intuition
AI excels in computation and prediction but struggles with true creativity or the kind of intuitive leaps humans make. Material intelligence, driven by our sensory experiences and emotional intelligence, fosters innovation and unique problem-solving, which can guide AI development responsibly. - Ethical and Philosophical Guidance
Material intelligence could emphasize values like sustainability, ethical decision-making, and empathy—areas where AI remains limited. For instance, humans’ connection to the environment might lead to AI systems designed with ecological mindfulness, steering technology toward solving pressing real-world issues. - Balancing Power Dynamics
As AI increasingly permeates industries and daily life, material intelligence reminds us to prioritize human-centered outcomes. By focusing on our embodied experiences and relationships, we resist over-reliance on artificial systems, ensuring they enhance rather than overshadow human agency.
Conclusion
Material intelligence isn’t so much an “antidote” to AI as it is a vital complement. It provides the human touch, ethical grounding, and creative spark that AI cannot replicate, ensuring a harmonious coexistence between human intelligence and artificial systems.
Ways to participate:
- Register your event.
- Take an advertisement out in the Sydney Craft Week print program. You can pay for a quarter, half, or full page in the guide.
- Attend other maker’s events.
Participant fee: $88.00 (inc GST)
The participation fee entitles you to one 150-word listing in the program. This listing can cover multiple events. If you are hosting an open studio in addition to your event the cost is included in this fee.
Your event/s will be listed in the Sydney Craft Week print program, website, and social media. Additionally, your event may be featured in news stories, EDMs and listed on external websites.
Advertising in the Program
Quarter page: $200.00
Half page $250.00
Full page $300.00
Download the Sydney Craft Week Participant Information 2025 here.
Download the SCW Sustainability Guide 2025 here.
Key Dates
15 June Entry and advertising deadline
23 June Participants notified
20 July Final text, images, booking links and advertising artwork program deadline
2 September Program live
10 October Festival opening event at Australian Design Centre
Festival Dates: Friday 10 October to Sunday 19 October 2025
For more information, please contact the Sydney Craft Week team:
Email: sydneycraftweek@australiandesigncentre.com
Phone: 02 9361 4555
Facebook @sydneycraftweek
Instagram @sydneycraftweek
Image top: Honor Freeman, Fade (Small acts of Care and repair), SCW 2024, Photo: Grant Hancock