Craftspace

Routes to Revolution showcases the creative responses of a group of refugee and newly arrived women to Birmingham and its industrial and craft based heritage.

Birmingham has always been a place of revolution; of enlightened thinking, engineering genius, commercial prowess, cultural and creative diversity. It is a city that is always looking forward. These women are also looking forward and experiencing their own personal revolution of change.

Working in collaboration with jeweller Kathryn Partington and ceramicist Rosanna Martin, the women have undertaken an investigation of the city’s dynamic past and present, viewing it through the eyes of newcomers. Utilising craft techniques the women have made work in response to their environment, creating a sense of place for themselves and highlighting elements which other residents may take for granted.

With the support of the makers, the women have explored different materials and techniques to enable them to creatively respond to the inspiration they’ve found in Birmingham. It is that creative process and exploration that you see on display here.

The culmination of this first project will be a limited edition collection. This collection, along with the pieces on display range in inspiration from the diversity of Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens through to the industrial past of the Jewellery Quarter.

The exhibition Routes to Revolution has been created in partnership with Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.