This Autumn sees the return of one of the UK’s biggest and most prestigious craft shows.
Now in its 16th year, this award-winning event brings together over 200 of the most talented makers and designers from across the UK including printmakers, ceramicists, jewellery makers, textile and glass artists, metal workers and silversmiths as well as furniture & lighting designers. Each of the exhibitors has been specifically selected for their outstanding craftsmanship and talent.
Housed in the iconic Victoria Baths in Manchester, the GNCCF is a unique opportunity to view and buy original handmade pieces from established artists as well as new graduate talent showcasing their work for the first time.
Highlights this year include:
- Green Graduates, with their exciting ideas to heal the planet, including last year’s super-successful www.matzero.com. Discovered whilst exhibiting at GNCCF22, product design student, Sri Hollema, is taking huge strides to improve living conditions for displaced refugee communities with her ingenious solar-powered heated mat. Her design has secured over £1m in backing and is being rolled out as we speak!
- Work by eminent artists selected for The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust www.qest.org.uk which this year includes contemporary furniture designer Sofia Karakatsanis and fine enamel jewellery from Harry Forster Stringer.
- A showcase of new work by the Birmingham Institute of Jewellery, Fashion & Textiles, including the intricate and unusual art of watchmaking, as well as recent MA graduates from Manchester School of Art.
- Free maker demos and hands-on textile and print workshops, as well as bookable masterclasses to learn new craft techniques, led by leading makers.
- Work by mother and daughter, Nehal and Erum Aamir, who take very different approaches to their ceramic art.
- Performances by Laura Mathews, last year’s Best in Show, with her stunning interactive animal puppets and sculptures.
- Table-ware by Sue Pryke, guest judge on TV’s Great Pottery Throwdown.
- A new initiative to showcase and sell the work of small Northern businesses that make supplies for the craft industry, including popular materials and craft-kits.
- An ongoing collaboration with the Manchester-based Oasis charity, bringing together 70 clients, including the homeless, people living with long-term mental health conditions and asylum seekers, who have each created a unique mug that tells their story, to be exhibited at the show.
- Onsite café, selling delicious lunches and snack from an all-new menu of local produce.
Book now for The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Victoria Baths
