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House of Princes | Material Connections | London | Group Show | 2019




Group Exhibition & Workshop series at 49-50 Poland Street
Curated by Abbie M  Adams

Cecily Ophelia_ETAKA I Eliza Collin & Julie Fox_Samak Bilab Bi Delo:House of Prince's Harry Smithson I Process Through Sound I Billie Van Katwijk_Ventri Sarmite Polakova_PineSkins I Abbie Adams_The TeYos Project             Merle Bergers_What's in a Tear I ISHKAR_Craft From Countries at War

''Making is connecting because through making things and sharing them in the world, we increase our engagement and connection with our socia I and physica I environments.'' (David Gaunttlet)

Material Connections, hosted at The Koppel Projects central gallery, presents an exhibition and week long workshop series. Featuring works by a group of emerging creatives who look to materials and making to engage in a wider conversation of culture, social and environmental sustainability.

It has been recognised in recent years that craft and making can be a valid and effective way of engaging with people and ideas, from waste streams in agriculture and forestry to the preservation of cultural heritage and redefining of community. Designers are shifting away from an emphasis on direct functionality and are instead instilling narratives through making. In an industry where surface impressions are too often all that matters this exhibition celebrates the inherent integrity of craft-making processes.

The exhibited works are collaborative, bringing together people and materials from all over the world; from ancient glass blowing techniques in 􀀄erat, pine bark harvested in Latvia, embroidery from Beit Ummar and garments hand crocheted by 'Kanyogoa' mothers in Uganda. The event seeks to cast light upon practitioners who utilise making as a tool to narrate material fiction and show that shared skill and cooperation are central to creative collaboration.

The workshop series invites the public into each practitioner's practice and their unique approach to material culture: the connection between human and material. The workshops and exhibition go
hand-in-hand, engaging with exhibited narratives through the act of making deepens the commitment to a cause.

https://www.materialconnections.co.uk/materialconnections