The Makers Evening & Building with Water Symposium
This year, for the first time, many of the festival talks were video’d, and we have now edited and made available these talks.
Events videos:
Tag Archives: Crafts
Makers Evening With Barbara Keal
Ceramics Series 2019
Ceramics: public and personal change and regeneration
The first in an occasional series of talks about ceramics presented by Making Lewes.
Friday May 17th 7.00 -10.pm, Lewes Depot, Pinwell Lane, Lewes BN7 2JS (map)
Cost £5.00 or £3 student concession. Booking through Lewes Depot, tickets available HERE
Artistic director of the British Ceramics Biennial, Barney Hare Duke will talk about the aims and activities of the Biennial which takes place from September to November 2019 in Stoke on Trent.
Past Biennial award winner, Brighton based ceramicist Louisa Taylor will discuss her work and career as maker in porcelain, designer for industry, researcher, author and teacher.
The talks will be preceded by a screening of the 1947 short documentary The Five Towns which shows the production techniques of the skilled workers of Stoke and addresses the challenges of post war reconstruction in the region; a challenge which has been picked up by the British Ceramics Biennial in the face of regional decline and the increasing globalisation of ceramics production.
Making with Sussex clay past and present
Wednesday 12th June 2019, 7pm upstairs at the Elephant and Castle,White Hill, Lewes BN7 2DJ
Cost £5.00 or £3 student concession. Pay on the door
Talks on the medieval potteries around Lewes will be followed by a presentation about contemporary pots made with local clay
David Gregory ‘The early medieval pottery kilns at Ringmer’
David has had a long interest in the medieval pottery industry in Ringmer and has helped dig a number of kilns in the area.
John Bleach ‘The Medieval Potters of Ringmer’.
John has researched many medieval matters and worked at the Museum of Sussex Archaeology for 35 years.
Susie Ramsay-Smith, a potter inspired by the environment of her lakeside Sussex farm will present a recent collection of pots made from clay dug on the farm in pursuit of her current Craft MA at University of Brighton. Susie is a member of Kent Potters and exhibits with Sussex Arts Collective.
Image credit: BCB general view by Joel Fildes
Un:Plastics Exhibition
Exhibition across four different locations illustrating some of the many ways designers, makers and artists are tackling our plastic waste problem.
10 November – 18 November 2018. Friars Walk, Lewes (map)
FREE EVENT.
Waste plastic is an environmental disaster globally. It spills upon and infiltrates the sea. It suffocates the wave, strangles the shore, and shrouds the beach.
Making Lewes has brought together artists, designers, and like-minded makers, whose shared need makes manipulating recycled resource material a necessity, and who by compulsion force the transition.
In this exhibition Making Lewes aims to illustrate alternative progressive solutions to the plastics waste issue. To move this on from debate to action. To help, repair – mend – reconcile.
Locations
30 Friars Walk (map) – shop front only, showing coasters and multi purpose plastic slabs from Weez and Merl, Aimee Caine’s Plastic Hunter Kit, Robyn Edward’s plastic and Silver jewellery and Footballs from Knowtrash.
Union Music Store (map) – Bluetooth speaker by Gomi.
Pestle and Mortar (map) – Home-ware by Toni Packham and ornamental animals from Knowtrash.
Symposium Wine bar (map)– Coasters from Weez and Merl.
Cover image – Bluetooth speaker by Gomi
MAKE LEWES FESTIVAL 2018
This September sees the return of Make Lewes Festival with another series of inspiring and informative workshops, talks and Symposia exploring the relationship between making, architecture, design and sustainability.
21st – 30th September 2018
Highlights include:
Friday, September 21
Collaborative Conspiracies
18.30 -21.30 at Fitzroy House, Cliffe Precinct, Lewes BN7 2AD
Talks by Fred Baier and William Hardie, two leading woody designers, and sit-down supper.
Talks, vegetarian mezze, cake and a complimentary drink: £22.50.
Places limited. Book via eventbrite.co.uk.
Friday, September 21 to Sunday, September 23
Collaborative Collisions III
10.00 – 17.00 at Depot Cinema, Pinwell Rd, Lewes BN7 2JS
Improvisations with Lewes makers and crafts-people.
Free.
Friday, 28 September
Makers Talks Evening
19.30 at Studio Hardie, Unit 1, Lewes, BN7 2PE
With Jim Keeling, Oxford Anagama Project, Barbara Keal, Felt Maker and Elaine Bolt, Ceramicist.
Free (donations welcome)
Saturday, September 29
Pop-up Pottery & Kiln firing workshop
10.00 – 17.00 at Linklater Pavilion, Railway Land, Lewes, BN7 2FG
Family workshop with Martin Brockman making pots from local materials fired in a wheelbarrow with locally sourced wood.
Free (donations welcome)
Building with Water
13.30 – 18.00 at Fitzroy House, Cliffe Precinct, Lewes, BN7 2AD
Water, Building, Architecture, Material Sources and the Future – talks by international and national speakers
Talks and water tasting: £8.50 Concessions £6.50. Book via eventbrite.co.uk.
Sunday, September 30
FutureScoping
13.30 – 17.30 at Depot Cinema, Pinwell Rd, Lewes BN7 2JS
The future of Lewes’s cultural infrastructure provision: What do we want? What does Lewes need?
Tickets £6.50 Concessions £4.50. (available through Depot website here)
Further events to be anounced…
Any questions? Email: info@makinglewes.org
Image credit: S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, “Bengal Stream³ 2017/18, photo: Iwan Baan
MLF 2018 – Collaborative Conspiracies
MAKE LEWES FESTIVAL 2018 LAUNCH EVENT
Tongue and Groove and Algorithms – the Fred and Will Story
Sit-down vegetarian supper with special guest talks by designer makers Fred Baier and William Hardie.
Friday September 21st 18.30 prompt at Fitzroy House, Lewes BN7 2AD map
Tickets £22.50 (includes vegetarian mezze supper, cake and a complimentary drink) Pay bar available. Booking online through eventbrite.
Fred Baier is an internationally renowned furniture maker, who pioneered the use of computer aided design in furniture making in the 1980’s, and has been at the forefront of drawing together analogue and digital making in the decades since.
William Hardie, is well known in Lewes for Studio Hardie. Resolving seemingly impossible design challenges, William has become a familiar face on Amazing Space’s and other TV programmes. Less known is that years ago Fred and William worked together on a public art project leading to a long and creative friendship.
The pair will thread together their shared story during the course of the evening.
Collaborative Conspiracies is part of Make Lewes Festival 2018
Kinship IV Workshop (Postponed*)
Kinship IV Design & Make Workshop POSTPONED*
* For unexpected reasons Kinship IV has been postponed untill spring 2019. Details to be confirmed in October. If you wish to be involved and kept up to date please email us at info@makinglewes.org
Make Lewes Festival’s fourth Kinship workshop co-led by William Hardie of Studio Hardie and Sally Daniels of tangentfield with a site tour and introduction to the ‘Heart of Reeds’ from artist Chris Drury.
26th – 28th September, 10.00 – 18.00
Venue – Linklater Pavilion, Railway Land and Studio Hardie Workshop map
Tickets £95, Students £75
definition: kinship – a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character
– a sharing of characteristics or origins – relationships between family members – a feeling of being close or similar…
BRIEF
With our fantastic team of designers and makers, we will collaboratively dream-up, draw-up, build, install and test-out a remarkable nest of 4 outdoor benches to be enjoyed as kinship by all. As for every Kinship; we aim for beauty, comfort, conviviality and for Kinship IV we will need steadfast durability!
SITE
The Railway land. This will not only be the home of our design endeavours but the prototyping, sharing, testing and production area itself.
PROCESS
Participants gather on site 25th September. There we will first discover the components of our workshop, space to construct and pitch together.
Once we have a shelter in place, and materials gathered, we will begin to dream and scheme in teams through the game of ‘consequences’ or ‘exquisite corps’*1. This will give our work a special twist and some surprise ingredients! And best of all, passers-by will this year be invited to join in and join up our benches!
1* Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. … The technique was invented by surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game …Consequences is an old parlour game in a similar vein to the Surrealist game exquisite corpse and Mad Libs. Each person takes a turn writing a word or phrase forming part of a set structure in order to build a story.
If you are travelling to Lewes from far afield, please see our list of accommodation options for staying in Lewes.
Kinship IV Design & Make Workshop is part of Make Lewes Festival 2018
Cover Image – Railway Land, Lewes – Google Earth
Site Image – Heart of Reeds by Chris Drury. Photo – Nicholas Sinclair
Collaborative Collisions
Come and try on the fantastical felt coat of changing seasons created by Barbara Keal, Owena Lewis and many others, as part of Collaborative Collisions III.
Depot forecourt, Pinwell Rd, BN7 2JS
3-4pm Tuesday 25th to Friday 28th September
Between these times each day this week you can have this wild hooded garment lowered on to you.
And then at 6.15pm on Friday 28th, Barbara will put on the coat and parade through the town to Studio Hardie for the Makers Talks Evening.
*The coat is hanging on steel strings at the Depot but please do not touch the coat if you arrive to view it unless there is somewhere there to help you as it is fragile.
photo credit: Katie Holloway
Collaborative Collisions III
Improvisations with Southdowns Herdwick sheep wool and other found and rescued materials.
21 – 23 September, 10.00 – 17.00, Lewes Depot, Pinwell Rd, BN7 2JS map
MLF’s popular Collaborative Collisions returns after a year off. This year’s improvisational workshop draws together a diverse group of makers, crafts people, and designers to meet a design challenge integrating local sheep wool and other materials.
Over 3 days a fantastical felt coat of changing seasons will be created from local sheep fleece (and a bit of local alpaca fleece too). Come and join Barbara Keal, Owena Lewis and others in any stage of the process from washing fleece through to making a felt leaf or animal motif to be added to the coat. Then on Sunday come and have this wild hooded garment lowered on to you.
This years Collaborative Colliders include:
Barbara Keal – Felt Maker and artist
Owena Lewis – Farmer & wool producer
Fred Baier – Furniture Maker
Further Collaborative Colliders to be announced
Expect the unexpected
For more information email: info@makinglewes.org
Collaborative Collisions III is part of Make Lewes Festival 2018
Cover image: Kids participating in Collaborative Collisions II in 2016 – Photo: George Sinclair
Sponser
MAKERS TALKS EVENING
Following on from previous festivals, our Makers talks evening again hosts locally and nationally recognised makers & crafts people.
Friday 28th 19.30 – 21.15 at Studio Hardie, Unit 4 Phoenix Works, North Street, Lewes BN7 2PE (map)
FREE (donations welcome)
Featuring:
Jim Keeling of Whichford Pottery and the Oxford Anagama Project, who set up the well known Whichford Pottery over thirty years ago, will be talking about making and building a version of the ancient Japanese Anagama kiln, in the heart of Oxfordshire’s Whytham Woods.
Barbara Keal Lewes based felt-maker, will talk about her felt-making approach and striking resulting work.
Ceramicist Elaine Bolt, part of the MakingLewes group visiting the Bornholm international Ceramics European Ceramics Context Biennale will report back about the experience of visiting the Danish ‘potters’ island, famous for its ceramics culture.
Makers Talks is part of the Make Lewes Festival 2018
For more information email: info@makinglewes.org
