Woman's Hour Craft Prize

About

Chester Visual Arts are proud to present the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, marking the launch of a new year-long exhibition programme at The Old Library in Chester. This exhibition follows the hugely successful V&A Pop Art in Print exhibition and Liz West’s Our Colour Reflection at Chester Cathedral, further cementing the organisation’s ambition to bring great art to Chester. 

Showcasing the most innovative and exciting craft practice in the UK today, this V&A exhibition at the Old Library marks the 70th anniversary of BBC Woman’s Hour. Traditional materials and historic skills meet new techniques in an exhibition that combines beauty and precise detail with challenging ideas.

The twelve finalists featured in the exhibition display a wide array of approaches to contemporary craft practice, with works made from woven willow and darned jumpers to a bespoke bicycle and intricate jewellery. Visitors to the exhibition will be encouraged to delve deeper, view closer to unearth challenging ideas including the decline of UK manufacturing, advances in medicine and stories of memory and loss.

The artists in the exhibition are: Laura Ellen Bacon (willow weaving), Alison Britton (ceramics), Neil Brownsword (ceramics and installation), Lin Cheung (jewellery), Phoebe Cummings (clay sculpture), Caren Hartley (metalwork), Peter Marigold (furniture), Celia Pym (textiles), Romillly Saumarez Smith (jewellery), Andrea Walsh (ceramics), Emma Woffenden (glass) and Laura Youngson Coll (vellum/sculpture).

Exhibition tour organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 
The Woman’s Hour Craft Prize is in association with BBC Radio 4 and the Crafts Council.