Craft NI are delighted to announce the launch of ‘Reaction’, the August Craft Month 2024 exhibition.

The opening reception will take place at Craft NI Gallery on Thursday, 1st August at 6pm. Featuring some of the best in contemporary craft, the annual August Craft Month Exhibition aims to celebrate and profile excellence in Northern Irish craft.

This year, applicants were invited to respond to the theme of Reaction, looking to what reactions between materials made it possible for their body of work to come to life, is there a particular technique that they found fascinating? Or was their response found exploring their creative process, ‘reacting’ to events and influences in the environment?

We’re excited to share how this year’s participants responded to the theme!

Exhibiting makers include: Anne Butler, Caitlin Murphy, Cara Murphy, Carla Pennie McBride, Celine Traynor, Cora Cummins, Corinne Price, Eleanor Wheeler, Fang Zhao, Hugh Cummins, Irene McBride, Jackie McMaster, Janice Gilmore, Joel Smyth, Karena Ryan, Karl Harron, Kathleen Walsh, Maya Todd, Natasha Rollinson, Pennie Metcalfe, Claire and Karen Gibson from Red Earth Designs, Ruth Osborne, Sarah Cathers, Stuart Cairns and Sue Cathcart. 

This year, Craft NI are joined by special guest judges Juliana Cavaliero from renowned contemporary gallery Cavaliero Finn and Samantha Rhodes who leads Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool, a regional craft hub and beacon for contemporary British craft, who will give a talk at the gallery before the opening at 3pm. Find out more about the talk here.

At the opening this year’s guild prizes will be awarded, for which Craft NI are particularly grateful to the former Guild of Northern Ireland Designer Makers (The Guild) who gifted a legacy gift for the development and promotion of the craft sector in Northern Ireland.