Craft in the city
More than 100 artists and makers will gather in Newcastle for a weekend showcasing and celebrating handmade design, sculpture, furniture and more.
One of the UK’s leading craft events will arrive in Newcastle later this month, as the Great Northern Contemporary Craft and Art Fair makes its North East debut.
Brought to the region by the team who have been running the event in Manchester for over 15 years, its North East counterpart will take place at Northumbria University’s Sport Central from June 20-22, assembling more than 100 independent makers and artists from across the UK - including many from the region.
The three-day event, which follows on from a mini pilot which took place in 2018 in a collaboration with The Biscuit Factory, will showcase work across disciplines including ceramics, glass, textiles, wood, metal, jewellery, furniture and fine art.
All participating exhibitors have been selected by a panel for the quality and originality of their work, and the fair offers a chance for visitors to engage directly with artists, many of whom will be on hand to discuss their process.
GNCCF director Ann-Marie Franey said: “We’re absolutely delighted to bring the Great Northern Contemporary Craft and Art Fair to Newcastle for the very first time this June. Featuring 100 specially selected makers and artists, the fair promises an inspiring showcase of exceptional, high-quality contemporary craft and art.”
Ann-Marie, who studied and lived in Newcastle for a decade, added: “Newcastle has such a strong sense of identity and creativity - it feels like the perfect place to grow our vision. This fair isn’t just about showcasing talent; it’s about creating meaningful connections between makers, collectors, and the wider community.”
Among the North East artists and makers who have taken up the opportunity to showcase their work at the Fair include furniture maker Nick James; Gateshead-based textile label Senyü, which collaborates with artisans in North East India; and chär-kōl, a Newcastle-based jewellery maker working with recycled metals and ethically sourced bone.
The fair will open to the public from 10am on Friday (June 20), with a ticketed Private View taking place that evening.
The event continues through Saturday and Sunday. In addition to browsing and buying work, visitors can expect live demonstrations and the opportunity to learn more about materials and techniques from the makers themselves.
Now in its 17th year, the GNCCF is part of a wider movement to champion contemporary craft and support independent makers in a market dominated by mass production.
The organisation also runs bursary and mentoring schemes, and frequently supports early-career artists.
Tickets for GNCCF Newcastle are available via Eventbrite. A full list of exhibitors is also available online at greatnorthernevents.co.uk.
Meet some of the North East Makers
Sarah Morpeth
Northumberland-based paper artist says her work often takes inspiration from childhood memories.
“Poems and half-remembered stories, and memories which pop up on my daily dog walks,” she explains. “Visually, the imagery I use comes from the countryside around me in rural Northumberland, so you’ll find the hedgerows, wild flowers and animals that inhabit this landscape appearing in my books and paper cuts.”
Recently, she’s turned her focus to the coast. “Seagulls, seals, ships and lighthouses are all beginning to make an appearance,” she says. One new piece is especially personal: “I’ve been creating papercuts using the shapes of old Victorian glass bottles with sailing ships inside them. I’m sure it’s because as a child my Gran had a ship in a bottle and I found it completely fascinating.”
Sarah lives in the heart of the Northumberland National Park. “I don’t think I could make my work anywhere else!” she says. “I live in the house which was my parents, so it’s full of memories. I walk the paths my Dad walked every day, and I feel completely rooted here.”
Her stand will feature “not just paper cuts but concertina books, paper garlands and pop up paper landscapes.”
“Paper is both really strong and quite delicate. There’s so much that you can do with a flat sheet - with some folding and cutting, it magically becomes something three dimensional.
“This is a great opportunity to show my work in a properly curated setting and to meet and talk to people who are interested in art.”
Nick James
Furniture designer and maker Nick James will be bringing a selection of handmade pieces crafted from Northumberland wood.
“The pieces I’m showing have grown out of a long-term interest in using local wood from Northumberland,” he says. “On my stand, you’ll see sculptural lighting, solid oak stools, a coffee table and a new sideboard – I’m also bringing some unassembled stool parts and raw timber to help people see and understand the journey from tree to table.”
Nick lives and works in the North East, where the local landscape plays a big part in shaping his creative process.
“Living in the North East means I have access to beautiful woodlands, and that’s a huge source of inspiration,” he says. “I am lucky enough to have my own woodland in Northumberland that I visit every Wednesday for ‘Woodland Wednesday’. Being responsible for my own trees helps me get closer to my material and really connect with my material, that connection really feeds into my work.”
A standout piece for Nick is his fluted oak sideboard. “It’s a piece that brings together so many things I care about: considered design, traditional joinery, and a deep respect for the material,” he says. “The sculpted, fluted doors let the grain really sing – it’s the kind of detail you can only achieve with solid wood.”
Kirsty Adams
Newcastle-based ceramicist Kirsty Adams will be showing a collection of moon jars, platters and rockpool plates at GNCFF, each shaped by landscape and geology.
“Icelandic vessels and moon jars expressing the ‘otherworldliness’ of the visceral, volcanic Reykjanes Peninsula,” she says. “Rockpool plates take inspiration from the Northumberland coastline. Large moon jars and platters are inspired by the Jurassic limestone caves of the western Algarve.”
The North East offers an important influence on Kirsty’s work
“A sense of place and provenance is important to it,” she says, before pinpointing “the Northumberland coastline with a particular focus on Cullernose Point between Craster and Howick” for her tenmoku series of moon jars.
For Kirsty, events like the upcoming Fair are as much about making connections and learning as they are about making sales.
“I look forward to meeting the visitors to the show and talking about my work to them. I also love testing out new collections and pieces and gauging the response to them. It helps me to push on further with my work and informs my future collections.
“The other artists and craftspeople I am exhibiting with have also become friends and this is a huge part of doing this fairs. They’re also important in helping to create and nurture a community of makers.”