The Art of Social Enterprise 

The Art of Social Enterprise will showcase recycled artefacts produced by inspiring social enterprises around the world. These community-based organisations support marginalized groups in need of income, acknowledgement and understanding. Featuring craft projects kick-started by using cheap and plentiful everyday rubbish as their raw materials, the exhibition celebrates the ingenuity of makers who transform trash into saleable artefacts. Sustaining the ideals of social enterprises, the workers are fairly rewarded and often receive health care, education and other social benefits, funded by the profits from sale of their work.

Contemporary recycled artefacts, both useful and decorative, will form the core of the exhibition display. These have been sourced from makers and markets around the globe by Ruth and Neil Thomson, curators of the knowtrash collection. Researching the world of recycling, they have discovered both inventive objects and the enterprising stories behind them. These stories will be told through video, photography and the maker's own words. Another section of the exhibition will be dedicated to UK social enterprises, showcasing exciting work happening in our local area.

The exhibition will include a workshop area where visitors can drop in free of charge, at any time, to be inspired by the intriguing objects and, using the same techniques as the makers, have a go at making a recycled item to take home.