Craftspeople in Northumberland have rallied behind a new exhibition which highlights heritage skills and how they can become lost or endangered.
Which is good news for horn carvers and hand papermakers everywhere.
The event, Lost and Endangered Crafts from November 3 to December 13 (and reopening from January 12 to 31) at the Bailiffgate Museum and Gallery in Alnwick, will combine material from the museum archives – such as a Northumberland framed quilt, corn dollies and a dressed stick with a horned snake head – with work by today’s local makers and artisans.
Inspired by the Heritage Crafts Association’s listings of extinct, critically endangered and endangered crafts in the UK, the exhibition offers an insight into traditional skills, the stories behind them and their continuing relevance today.
It will also underline the vulnerability of traditional skills and the renewed interest in preserving and celebrating their part in shaping local identity, culture and community life.
The exhibition features a range of traditional and specialist crafts, including stained glass, wood and stone carving, hand papermaking, basketry, horn carving, lace making, rag rugging and the making and repairing of bows for stringed instruments.
A programme of workshops and demonstration days is continuing alongside the exhibition, offering visitors opportunities to discover more about the crafts and meet makers.
Remaining sessions are:
Saturday, November 14, 10am-3pm: Luca Serra: Wood carving demonstration
Originally from Sardinia but has lived and worked in Northumberland for over 25 years.
Using a wide range of wood, he carves his sculptures by hand. Starting with a naturally felled tree, he then works from the bark inwards to discover the hidden shapes within.
Saturday, November 21, 10am-12pm: Anna Corbett, Basketry demonstration
Anna is a basketmaker and fibre artist who works with local materials gathered from where she lives in rural Northumberland.
These may be wild or cultivated, from moors and meadows, hedgerows, woods and gardens. They include leaves and stems, grasses, rushes, roots, moss, straw and bark.
Sunday, November 22, 1pm-3pm: Lucy Baxandall, Paper making demonstration
Working out of Tidekettle Paper in Bridge Street in Berwick, Lucy’s work extends from the traditional craft of western hand papermaking through to artwork using paper and pulp as a creative medium.
Sunday, November 29, Northumbria Lace Makers demonstration
More information via the Bailiffgate Museum website.
