Craftspace

Click on the textile image above and follow the link to hear Sian Williams talk about her work.

The Made in the Middle exhibition is a major survey of contemporary craft from makers with a connection to the West Midlands. Selected by a panel of curators, design historians and leading national makers, 37 cutting edge makers exhibited their latest work in this national touring exhibition. Made in the Middle takes place every three years attracting over 37,000 visitors and this was the sixth in the series.

The exhibition  toured to nine major galleries throughout the UK.

The exhibition explores ‘routes to an object’, investigating how inspirations and career paths create the passion, skills and ideas that lie behind each piece of work. 

This wealth of creativity on display included ceramics, glass, jewellery, metalwork, textiles and furniture from both recent graduates and makers with international reputations. This diversity of talent included lighting designer makers such as Elaine Sheldon and Dominic Cooney of Sheldon Cooney, Emma Welsh, and Dominic Bromley of Scabetti, mother and son jewellers Jane and John Moore and glass makers Clare Henshaw and Stuart Garfoot. Over 100 objects were displayed, supported by video and sound recordings, work you can touch and a family activity guide. 

Craftspace and Rugby worked with the National Electronic and Video Archive for the Crafts (NEVAC) to video three significant makers – Ndidi Ekubia, Bridget Drakeford and the partnership of Sheldon Cooney - for this national archive, each talking about their ideas, making processes and careers. 

Made in the Middle is an opportunity to purchase craft that is rarely available in the region and is supported by the Arts Council England’s Own Art Scheme, developed to encourage people to purchase and commission art and craft. 

Passionate about encouraging people to own craft and explore their own experience of living with craft, Craftspace and Rugby art Gallery and Museum worked together on a project that offered local people, some in supported accommodation, the opportunity to commission a new piece of craft for themselves. The exhibition included photographs of their commissions in their homes and tells the story of their involvement in the commissioning process.

The next Made in the Middle exhibition will take place in 2010.

British makers are rightly admired in international circles for their originality and individuality. This creative fertility, I would argue, springs from the diversity of our culture. Made in the Middle confirms that fresh and distinctive new voices continue to emerge from the West Midlands in the post-industrial era.

Quote from Made in the Middle catalogue essay by Lesley Jackson.

Artists

Ndidi Ekubi, Helen Cass, Sally Greaves-Lord, Sian Fletcher, Jim Partridge, Ermine Jackson, Kate Pemberton, Deb Roberts, Karina Thompson, Joanne Ayre, Bridget Drakeford, Dennis Farrell, Rosamonde Ingram, Andrea Walsh, Nicola Richards, James and Tilla Waters, Dominic Bromley, Scabetti, Emma Welsh, Elaine Sheldon and Dominic Cooney, Sheldon Cooney, Dena Bagi, Stuart Garfoot, Clare Henshaw, Dean Hopkins, Yoko Izawa, Anna Lorenz, Jane Moore, John Moore, Shivani Patel, Betty Pepper, Isabella Hart, John Grayson, Claire Malet, Marcus Steel, Melanie Tomlinson, Natalie Cole and Wayne Pottinger (ALSO), Ranbir Kaur, Ruth and Adrian Spaak

Click on the textile image above adn follow the link to hear Sian Williams talk about her work.

Curation And Partners

Made in the Middle is a partnership between Craftspace, a Birmingham based crafts agency, and Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, a contemporary gallery space in the heart of Rugby, Warwickshire.

Made in the Middle is being supported by VSM (UK) Ltd., distributors of Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff sewing machines. We are working in partnership with them and Made in the Middle textile artist Karina Thompson. Follow this link for more information.