Image credit: Annie Spratt. Description: a craftsman creating small molds for silversmithing.
‘Handmade in Britain’ was established in 2007 to provide a creative platform to support and promote design and craft talent in the UK. Their commitment to promoting the work of talented makers, designers and craftspeople has seen already led them to establish annual events in Kew, Edinburgh, and Chelsea. They also recently launched ‘Handmade in Britain: Online’, which allows customers to purchase handmade products all year round through the company’s website. For makers and designers, the online marketplace boasts a complete lack of joining fee or annual fee, presenting them with a digital platform and the opportunity to gather a wider audience for their work.
Now, Handmade in Britain has announced its collaboration with Waterperry Gardens for a brand new event: Handmade Oxford – The International Contemporary Arts Festival.
The four-day event, running from Thursday 27 – Sunday 30 June 2019, will see Oxford greet some of the most talented contemporary artists and designers from all over the world. The show will feature craft and design, interiors and lifestyle, print and photography, and a huge range of demonstrations and workshops for festival-goers to get involved with. If that’s not for you, there will also be a tempting array of artisan food and drink – think sourdough bread, exquisite cakes and pastries, local cheeses and real ale.
The four-day event, running from Thursday 27 – Sunday 30 June 2019, will see Oxford greet some of the most talented contemporary artists and designers from all over the world.
The arts festival will be held just a few miles outside of Oxford, in Waterperry Gardens. Home to eight acres of beautifully landscaped ornamental gardens, Waterperry is has a history of successful creative endeavours, having hosted another arts festival, Art in Action, for 40 years. Art in Action was established in 1977, featuring 51 artists and musicians and welcoming over 14,000 visitors in its inaugural year. Every July up to 400 artists, crafters, performers and musicians gathered together in the Gardens to demonstrate their skills and show their work, and in 2016 Art in Action welcomed approximately 28,000 people over the course of four days.
Handmade Oxford hopes to build on this legacy.
Piyush Suri, Creative Director, said: “The event will not only celebrate the raw talent that Art in Action was known for, but will present visitors with the high standard of carefully-curated exhibitors that Handmade in Britain brings to every event.”
