About

London Craft Week hosts a craft symposium at V&A South Kensington with panel discussions and keynote speeches from leading figures in the sector. Speakers cover topics including the expanded craft vocabulary of the last ten years, digital innovation, the transfer of skills through apprenticeships and craftsmanship and luxury.

Welcome and Keynote
James Robinson, Acting Director of Collections, V&A

Panel discussion
The Future of Craft: Expanding Horizons
This session considers the expanded craft vocabulary of the last ten years, the porous boundary between craft and fine art and design and the growing market for one-of-a-kind pieces. Speakers include: international curator Hyeyoung CHO (Loewe Foundation Craft Prize Expert Panel), market specialist Melanie Gerlis (The Art Newspaper) and Natalie Melton (Chief Executive, Crafts Council).

Keynote
Crafting the Digital Object
Clayton Welham, Partner & Creative Director, Found.Found generated a thousand unique digital objects for the covers of the London Craft Week Guide. Clayton Welham considers how new digital techniques, the creative choices and occasional uncertainties parallel processes and materiality in the wider craft sector.

Keynote
Working Materials: From Matter to Medium
Eleanor Lakelin, artist in wood, discusses the roles of material and materiality in her practice – the ways in which the life of wood and organic matter participate in her explorations of concept and form. Often drawing inspiration from other disciplines, from ceramics to metalworking, the artist shares her experience of finding techniques and opportunities for wood to transcend history and tradition, to move from the status of material to that of a medium, and to act as a carrier for narrative and sculptural presence.

Panel discussion
Crafting Luxury
A distinguished panel discusses how the true value of luxury is rooted in craftsmanship and fine materials, the transfer of skills through apprenticeships and how heritage craft and contemporary design inspiration can drive Maison creativity. Speakers include: Helen Brocklebank (Chief Executive, Walpole), Alberto Cavalli (Executive Director, Michelangelo Foundation), Giovanni Nodari Serapian (Serapian).