Contemporary craft from across the Midlands



Stories of Making & Migration

Hear people’s stories of making who have migrated to the Midlands from other countries.

We have been collecting stories of making in the Midlands that are influenced by migration.

We met with ‘everyday makers’ who craft for themselves, making at home, in a local studio or with a community. Through jewellery, pottery, crochet, textiles, blacksmithing and batik, their work celebrates the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Midlands. It highlights how craft skills that migrate with the makers influence creativity.

We met makers of South American, North American, African, Caribbean, South Asian and East Asian heritage. They tell of a love for making and craft. Whether self-taught, passed down through family or shared within their community. It has been a privilege to work with them to weave together a rich tapestry of stories across the Midlands.

Featured Makers

An artist holding up a mug with a red spot in the centre of the bottom. They are painting the main body of the mug with a purple glaze.

Ayesha Bibi

A member of Sundragon Pottery, Ayesha’s work is inspired by colour, her Bangladeshi heritage, its landscape and food traditions.

A person lifting a vessel out of a kiln. It is white with arms on either side, and black symbols painted over it.

Chiamaka Claudia Duru

Claudia is of Italian and Nigerian descent, she has lived in Leicester for two and a half years and attends weekly pottery classes.

A close up photograph of a bunch of colourful, crepe paper flowers.

DOSTI

Meaning friendship, members of the DOSTI group make and share their skills in knitting, crochet, embroidery and paper flowers. 

A close up of a woman's hands adding a yellow crochet trim to a piece of blue fabric.

Haleema Bibi

Haleema shares her memories of learning embroidery and crochet from her mother, who was from Pakistan and how they embellished scarves using their skills.

Two arms hold a large blue pot decorated with orange shapes. It is large and round at the top tapering inwards towards the base.

Michelle Amezcua

Originally from America, Michelle explores her Mexican roots by basing her work on traditional carved pottery from the southern state of Oaxaca.

A close up photograph of a bunch of baubles decorated with colourful fabrics and gold trims.

Rosie Taheem

Rosie crochets and knits, and makes dolls and baubles from remnants of Indian fabric that belonged to her mother. 

A pleated dress made of a colourful pattern fabric laid out on a table next to a sewing machine, and a person pointing at a technical drawing of this dress.

Sandra Stanley and the Sewing Circle

Sandra is the leader of the Sewing Circle, which meets weekly at the Afro-Caribbean Centre in Leicester.

A close up of an artist doing batik on a piece of cotton fabric in an embroidery hoop. They're using a tool to drop hot wax onto the fabric to create the outline of a flower, which has been coloured with pink, yellow and orange dye.

Shirlyn Low

Shirlyn shares the batik process she learnt in secondary school in Malaysia, while reinventing it in a modern light.

Alex, the leader of Smashing Metal, wearing an apron and heatproof gloves, holding a hammer in his left hand and a hot metal rod in his left, shaping it against an anvil. In front of him is a metal sign shaped like an anvil, with letters cut out which reads 'Smashing Metal Forging Futures'. The rod the sign hangs from has been decorated with a metal flower and stem which arches over the stop of the sign.

Smashing Metal

Smashing Metal is a blacksmithing group run by Alex at Newbigin Community Trust, helping people to learn new skills and practice mindfulness.

A close up photograph of a collection of traditional Kurdish women's caps, embellished with vibrant and meticulous beadwork and embroidery.

Zohra

For over 20 years, Zohra has been reinvigorating the form of traditional Kurdish women’s caps, fashioning these ornate and vibrant objects out of unwanted and second-hand materials.

Research, documentation and storytelling by Hayley Salter, a Birmingham based photographer, film-maker and creative producer.

Find out more about the exhibition

Six brightly coloured, differently sized vases. Each vase is entirely one colour, and differently shaped. The surfaces are decorated with many sharp grooves, creating lines top to bottom.

Meet the artists

See the artists exhibiting in Made in the Middle.

A large detailed white papercut artwork. Rings radiate out from the centre, with each layer being very precisely and meticulously cut.

Visit: See the exhibition

Find out more about the tour.




Where Next?

Stories of Making & Migration

Hear stories from ‘everyday makers’.

Two arms hold a large blue pot decorated with orange shapes. It is large and round at the top tapering inwards towards the base.

Made in the Middle 2025

Made in the Middle tells a story of exceptional contemporary craft and design made in the Midlands.

Three sculptures. They appear to include found objects made from building material. They include rough stone shapes, twisted shapes and smooth glazed forms.

Artist: Oxana Geets - Character Stories

Read the tales of five new creatures.

Three simple ceramic creatures. A dark dragon-like form with a green tongue, a light brown hedgehog-like creature which appears to hold a small bag and look surprised and a small brown bear like figure with open arms.

Made in the Middle: Artists

See all of the artists in the exhibition.

Three abstract sculptures. They are made of irregular shaped blocks of coloured plaster. They look very solid. The colours are bright and blocky, greens, blues, pinks and yellows.


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