About

Made in the Middle 2025-26

Made in the Middle launches at Leicester Gallery, De Montford University on 25 January 2025. You can find out more about the exhibition and how to visit here. The exhibition tours to Leicester, Sleaford, Nuneaton and Birmingham until 2026.

History

First launched in 1988, Made in the Middle showcases the best contemporary craft being made in the East and West Midlands. It explores a wide range of craft processes, expertise, skills and thinking.

The exhibition plays an important role in raising the profile of individual artists and excellence in making. Touring to galleries and museums in the region, it creates accessible opportunities to see and purchase work by regional artists.

You can find out more about the history of the exhibition on the Made in the Middle 30 website.

In each cycle of Made in the Middle, the selected works highlight trends and current innovations in craft. Always curated through an open selection process, artists are supported to show work which extends their interests and practice.

Made in the Middle has been a constant feature of Craftspace’s artistic programme over the last thirty years. The development activities associated with the exhibition have included curators’ forums, learning and engagement projects, and partnerships with corporate business. It has also provided commission opportunities for exhibition designers, graphic designers, photographers and other freelancers.

Beginning as the ‘West Midlands Craft Open’ in 1988, it has evolved into the recurring, open, selling exhibition: Made in the Middle. The works exhibited are selected by an expert panel, before being developed and curated by Craftspace in partnership with a regional gallery. Over the years, it has become a touchstone to survey changes and trends in making and makers.

Since 2002, more lead-in time has been built in to give selected makers an opportunity to develop new work. Also, the exhibition’s curation has become more thematic. A critical approach to curation ensures that Made in the Middle remains relevant, highlighting current developments and issues within the contemporary craft sector and wider society.

(Excerpt from the Made in the Middle 30 website.)

Louise Taylor’s essay, ‘Neither North nor South’, gives an insight to Made in the Middle’s development and the wider societal changes that the exhibition has reflected, from her perspective and that of the makers who have been involved.

See a timeline of the the exhibition since 1988 on the Made in the Middle 30 website.