Museum displays highlight regional craft skills

Two new displays at the City Museum and Art Gallery are giving talented makers from the South West an opportunity to show their work.

Making Futures: Lifecycles of Material Worlds will be on display in the Museum foyer until the end of Saturday 7 December. The display has been coordinated by Cornwall-based curator Elaine Dye in conjunction with Plymouth College of Art and features five makers who use sustainable processes and materials to create new work.

The display was unveiled earlier this month to coincide with the 'Making Futures' Conference at Mount Edgcumbe. Organised by Plymouth College of Art once every two years, ‘Making Futures’ is attended by delegates from across the UK and investigates the role of contemporary craft within 21st century society.

The makers featured in the Museum’s display are Claire Crompton and Helen Round, both of whom refashion and revitalise old textiles; Tracey Falvey, who makes jewellery from recycled silver; Magie Hollingworth, who creates new vessels and tools from paper fibre and scraps of reclaimed materials; and Mirjana Smith, who breathes new life into unwanted treasures to produce quirky teapots.

Three ‘Meet the Makers’ sessions will be held while the display is on show. These 30 minute talks will begin at 1pm and will give people a chance to meet some of the contributors to the display and find out more about their work. Visitors can meet Claire Crompton on Wednesday 23 October, Helen Round on Wednesday 13 November and Tracey Falvey on Wednesday 27 November. Admission is free and there is no need to book. Please meet in the Museum foyer a few minutes before the start.

A second display in the Museum's Atrium Gallery highlights the work of Tim Gee, Philippa de Burlet and Taja - all of whom are members of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. Tim, Philippa and Taja have produced new pieces of work in response to the historic porcelain in the Museum's permanent collection. The display will be on show until the end of Saturday 16 November and has been designed to complement an exhibition at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey entitled Porcelain Complexion (until 17th November). This exhibition also features work by Tim, Philippa and Taja as well as other porcelain makers, alongside historic porcelain on loan from the Museum.

Alison Cooper, the City Museum and Art Gallery’s Curator of Decorative Art will be at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen from 2pm to 4pm on 16 October. She will be able to answer any questions people may have about Porcelain and the Museum's decorative art collection which includes significant pieces of Plymouth Porcelain - the first hard paste porcelain to ever be produced in Europe in the late 1760s.

“Both displays have provided us with a great opportunity to work with local partners. With such a large historic collection of craft and ceramics we are always keen to display contemporary work to not only set our historic pieces into context but to also show how styles and traditions continue today,” said Curator – Decorative Art, Alison Cooper. “Being able to show contemporary makers highlights the talent of craftspeople working in the South West today and will hopefully inspire the makers of tomorrow too!”

The Making Futures: Lifecycles of Material Worlds and Porcelain Complexion displays can be viewed at the City Museum and Art Gallery from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm Saturday. Admission is free.