August Craft Month Exhibition 2024
Craft NI are delighted to welcome applications to take part in the 2024 August Craft Month Exhibition. This exhibition will have a number of prizes aimed at supporting makers at different stages of their careers and will take place during August as part of the August Craft Month celebrations, held in the Craft NI Gallery, Belfast’s only dedicated crafts venue. All exhibitors will benefit from the promotional activity around August Craft Month, the support of Craft NI communications and Gallery staff and profile on Craft NI’s exhibition website. Exhibition Brief: Reaction This year, applicants are invited to respond to the theme Reaction. What reactions between materials made it possible for your body of work to come to life, is there a particular technique that you find fascinating? Or was your response found exploring your creative process, ‘reacting’ to events and influences in your environment? We’re excited to see how your respond to the theme Reaction and welcome your thoughts on how the physical nature of the work submitted and your creative process intertwine. Header image: Anna Smyth, photography by Nathanael Smyth. Guild Prizes We are particularly grateful to the former Guild of Northern Ireland Designer Makers (The Guild) who have given us a legacy gift for the development and promotion of the craft sector in Northern Ireland. We use these funds for awards for work in the annual exhibition highlighting the work of both emerging and established makers. There will be five prizes in all: 1st prize: £500 2 x commended: £250 each 2 x Emerging Maker prizes: £500 each for makers who have been practicing for five years or less. Eligibility Makers should be working in one of the recognised craft disciplines listed here; All work should be the original design of the Maker and should also be made by the Maker; All work must evidence the skill of the Maker and must be a unique object, coming from the vision of that Maker. Submitted work can be: Online To ensure the exhibition reaches the widest possible audience, we are delighted to announce that all work chosen for the exhibition will be viewable online on our website’s dedicated exhibitions section on www.craftni.org. All the pieces will be photographed and available digitally as a series of 360’ rotational images. The work can be made available for sale in our Craft NI Gallery as well as directly from our website, increasing the opportunity for craft enthusiasts, buyers and collectors. Panel Selection will be made by Craft NI’s Quality Group, led by Board Members Kim Mawhinney, Senior Curator at National Museums NI, Dr Christopher McHugh, Lecturer in Ceramics at Belfast School of Art, and Patricia Flanagan, specialist facilitator of design thinking/creative problem solving. We are delighted to announce 2024’s guest members of the judging panel for Craft NI’s August Craft Month exhibition: Reaction at Craft NI Gallery in Belfast! Julianna Cavaliero from the renowned Cavaliero Finn Gallery in London and Samantha Rhodes, Director at the Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool, will bring their expertise and experience to our exhibition and we’re delighted that they’ll be here in person to talk about their work and meet NI makers on the 1st August opening. This is a lovely opportunity for both emerging and established NI craft designer-makers to participate in this juried exhibition with a panel whose members bring a wealth of craft knowledge and curatorial expertise. Samantha Rhodes has over 25 years’ experience working in the contemporary crafts and applied arts at Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool, one of the country’s earliest independent craft galleries. Samantha has curated exhibitions over many years at the Bluecoat Display Centre and has co-curated temporary craft exhibitions including Collect at the V&A and Saatchi Gallery as well as internationally in the USA. Juliana Cavaliero has over thirty years’ experience in the art world. Cavaliero Finn, established in 2004, is renowned for its carefully curated portfolio of expertly crafted objects and award-winning fine art from some of Britain’s leading contemporary artists. The gallery does not follow trends in its selection of work; the emphasis is on originality and craftsmanship of the highest standard, and it seeks out heirloom pieces that have a lasting, stand-alone aesthetic beauty. The gallery has an exceptional reputation amongst its clients and within the industry for showcasing the finest works from emerging, mid-career and established contemporary artists and makers, and has placed work in several museum collections including The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery and the Ulster Museum. Submission To apply, you will need : Please email your submission(s) through to imagescraftni@gmail.com by Friday 5th July. Applicants notified by: Thursday 11th July Important Dates All applicants will be notified of the results of their submission via email. If selected, responsibility for the delivery and collection of work is the maker’s own. Work must be: Upon notification of your successful application, you will be prompted to select a time/date for drop off and collection dates to avoid overcrowding at the gallery.
Shows high level skill in the techniques used;
