Irish craft in London: A place to gather

Irish craftmasters are showcasing their work in London this week as part of the London Design Festival, and they’ve produced an amazing video where they talk about their art. 

Among the featured artisans are Cork-based Horizon Furniture, Jerpoint Glass from Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and Kathleen McCormick, basketweaver from Broadford, Co Limerick. 

You don’t know whether you’re going to be good at it – you have to become good at it. So whether a person has determination to learn, whether they have the burning desire to learn … is the real thing.

– Kathleen Mc Cormick, Basket Weaver

A Place To Gather from Jamie & Keith on Vimeo.

‘A Place to Gather’ has been set up in a specially-created Irish space, surrounded by a library of Irish-themed books curated by Trinity College Dublin.

The exhibition will be housed in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January next year.

‘We wanted the exhibition to focus on place,’ said Brian McGee, from the Crafts Council of Ireland. ‘Place is really important when it comes to craft – the connection between the place where the designer or maker will work in terms of the story of the object.’

‘We wanted it to literally be a place where people will gather.’

The London Design Festival has been running since 2003, and runs between 14 – 23 September 2012. An estimated 350,000 people visited its exhibitions and other events in 2011.

The video was produced by Irish filmmakers jamieandkeith at the production studio Antidote in Ranelagh, Dublin.

The exhibition is located at 12 Chance Street, on the corner of Red Church St, London E2 7JB