Old School

The term ‘old school’ is often used in a tongue-in-cheek manner to refer to something that is old-fashioned or outdated. Within this exhibition, Old School is used as a marker of respect and regard – as a nod to the past being a vital and ongoing source of inspiration and creativity.

Six diverse makers, all women working in the field of contemporary craft and design, present new and recent works that explore this theme in their own way. Each response is as unique as their individual approaches to practice and relationships to materials and making. Their works reveal, at times, quite vulnerable explorations of personal histories, cultural heritage and identity, through to broader investigations of the legacies of craft practice globally.

Accumulated over a fifty-year period, Craft’s eclectic library archive is also made accessible within the exhibition as a curated ‘Reading Room’ offering an analogue and tangible source of inspiration and historical point of reference. Together with the works in Old School, these offer a chance to reflect on our shared histories and encourage new and different stories to emerge.

Through the practice of reflection and creation, the artists - Lucia Dohrmann, Aunty Glenda Nicholls, Inari Kiuru, Marta Figueiredo, Camille Laddawan and Danielle Thiris - continue the important and enduring legacy of craft today, as an act of hope, source of joy and means of connection for generations to come.