Crafted Vancouver gets people talking with the Conversation Series
Virtual discussions cover the craft continuum, from the ancestral to the contemporary
Vancouver-based potter Janaki Larsen is participating in Crafted Vancouver’s Conversation Series.
Crafted Vancouver is all about celebrating and fostering public appreciation for outstanding craft-based work.
A vital component of the annual event, which is now underway and runs to May 25, is the Conversation Series.
Through several unique experiences, the series provides a festival platform for established and emerging craft-based artists and designers—as well as the gallerists, curators, collectors, and other cultural partners who support and represent their work—to share important discourse on craft’s enduring role in our society.
The 2021 Conversation Series is an engaging collaborative dialogue between Crafted Vancouver, Rue Pigalle and Brian Kennedy Curation, and Crafting a Difference (an alliance of five London-based contemporary craft and visual-arts galleries showing at SoShiro). Whilst ostensibly a cooperation between Canadian and UK partners, participants are truly international, spanning a range of craft materials and specialties with roots and references from around the globe.
A highlight of Crafted Conversations—which features makers celebrating a plethora of craft voices around the world—is on May 12 at 10 am PDT with Loraine Rutt. An explorer and a cartographer who went from ordnance maps to mapping the moon, she creates porcelain globes and maps to challenge our perception of the world.
Inspired by Charles Booth London Poverty Maps, she has created porcelain maps highlighting little known (or conveniently ignored) facts about life in London. She will welcome people into her garden studio to share her passion for maps, travels, and social justice while demonstrating some of the many steps required to create her miniature worlds.
The Gallery Talks, meanwhile, are conversations between craftspeople carefully selected and paired from Crafted Vancouver and Crafting a Difference. Each talk is moderated by Isabelle Fish, founder of Rue Pigalle.
On May 13 at 10 am and 6 pm PDT, MADEINBRITALY Gallery hosts a talk with artists Rosa Nguyen (MADEINBRITALY) and Janaki Larsen (Janaki Larsen Studio). Nguyen gives a second life to her garden by immortalizing them in porcelain; Larsen is a Vancouver-based potter who loves dirt.
The Gallery Talks continue on May 18 with Chris Day of Vessel Gallery and Karin Jones, a multidisciplinary artist with a background in jewellery.
May 20 features Nicholas Lees of Cavaliero Finn and textile artist Michelle Sirois Silver. Their conversation explores the importance of process, the idea of being part of a continuum, and how to nurture discipline without getting into a rut.
All of the events are free and include access to the Conversation Series Flipping Book. The digital publication features information on all of the artists, as well as beautiful images of their work.
To register for the Conversation Series and learn more, visit Crafted Vancouver.
This post was sponsored by Crafted Vancouver.