Professor Ewan Clayton on why heritage crafts are important

No blog post from me today but I wanted to share Ewan Clayton’s inspirational speech from the Heritage Crafts Association forum at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Many folk found it incredibly thought provoking and asked for a transcript, thankfully we had a recorder running and Ewan gave permission for it to be published. I am sure my blog readers…

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kesurokai

In August Nicola and I are heading to Japan to work with traditional craftspeople there and learn about how they are working to share traditional skills. Nicola did her PhD looking at how traditional skills are exchanged in the UK and this will form part of her ongoing research, she is also doing publicity for the event and has a…

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traditional crafts on BBC news

Nice article on the BBC news website today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8586172.stm Mr Wood gave up his job as a National Trust forester in 1995 to become a professional woodworker, making traditional bowls and plates from local timber using a foot-powered lathe. The last professional pole lathe bowl turner before him, George Lailey, died in 1958 without passing on his trade. Mr Wood…

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traditional crafts in papers and will there be another Mastercrafts series 2?

Tuesday the 23rd of March was a great day for traditional crafts. The Heritage Crafts Association finally had it’s official launch at the V&A and opened up it’s friends membership scheme and Jon Henley published a wonderful article in the Guardian’s G2 section. Jon has a deep understanding of the crafts and we were delighted he was able to contribute…

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Phil Harding, Mastercrafts mentors and Ewan Clayton help launch the HCA at the V&A

Phil Harding told us how pleased he was to be asked to speak not as an archaeologist or as a man off the telly but as a craftsman. He was speaking at the V&A as one of the country’s top flint knappers and as a passionate supporter of traditional craft skills. Most of the Mastercrafts mentors joined us along with…

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