Showcasing local craft
MADE in Kilkenny is a collective of 26 professional craftspeople who work to the highest standard of excellence using a wide range of materials including glass, clay, stone, metal, wood and textiles. Next month, a craft trail which will include the members will be launched. Mary Cody spoke to the people involved in this innovative new initiative
ESTABLlSHING Kilkenny as Ireland's craft capital is one of the wishes of the newly founded group, MADE in Kilkenny.
Despite the fact that the headquarters of the Crafts Council of Ireland is located in the Castle Yard, a significant proportion of people both living and visiting Kilkenny are oblivious to the vibrant craft scene that is going on.
Two local craftspeople, Rosemary Dur and Bernie ,McCoy came up with the idea for MADE in Kilkenny. "I was part of a group who completed a marketing course which was set up by the County Enterprise Board," Rosemarie said.
"I got inspired during the course by what they were telling us and when the course ended they encouraged us to keep meeting up. I suppose that was where the idea of creating the group came from. You look at other counties and they produce wonderful publications showcasing the work the talent that exists and we thought it would be good to do something that would benefit the crafts scene in Kilkenny."
However, there are stringent but simple pre requisites that need to be fulfilled before artists can be affiliated with the group. These measures were put in place to ensure that the group represented professional and talented craftspeople who are somewhat established at plying their trade in Kilkenny.
"We are the only professional crafts collective in the country at the moment. We had criteria in order for people to become members - the two main ones were that you had to be in business for a minimum of four years and that you had to be earning the majority of your income from your craft. The group has 26 members and we will work together for the next two years at which point new members can apply.
"Our main aim is to support and promote the craftspeople and industry in Kilkenny. Our wider objective is more lofty in that we want to encourage more craftspeople and artists to come to Kilkenny.
"Kilkenny was, and should once more be, recognised as the Creative Heart of Ireland. The legacy left behind by the Kilkenny Design Workshops, the one that produced generations of well-trained Kilkenny craftspeople and artists, that indirectly gave birth to the Kilkenny Arts Festival, and later the Comedy and Rhythm & Roots Festivals, the one that encouraged many people to move here because it was viewed as an attractive place to live in, has slowly been fading.
"With the formation of MADE in Kilkenny, craftspeople from the city and county are playing their part in a movement to again promote Kilkenny as an interesting and pleasant place to visit and to work in, which it is. The wider initiative, currently gathering momentum in Kilkenny, plans to encourage the various private and public bodies here to communicate more efficiently with one another, and to collectively gear any promotion they do towards raising the image of a creative and culture-rich Kilkenny, nationally and internationally.
"The spin-off effect of this will be an increase in tourism, and in the long term will make it easier to encourage business, large and small, to set up in county Kilkenny instead of elsewhere in Ireland. Kilkenny has much to offer, so much unused potential. Now is a good time to start making something more of it." member Christopher Heltzel told the Kilkenny People.
"We want MADE in Kilkenny to encompass local tourism and enable tourists to come and see craftspeople at work," added Ray Power, a potter who is based in The Castle Yard.
MADE in Kilkenny will launch an exhibition of innovative work at this year's arts festival. The exhibition features works in glass, clay, precious metals, wood and textiles, all of which are inspired by the 400th anniversary of the signing of the charter that conferred onto Kilkenny the status of a city. All pieces are handcrafted from members of the MADE group and feature a refreshing and innovative use of materials resulting in crafted pieces of striking individuality.
The group will also be part of the 'Trails Kilkenny' initiative which focuses on creating a series of trails which offer visitors an opportunity to follow a guided route through the city and county whilst stopping off at craftmakers studios along the way. This offers visitors a unique opportunity to see craftwork being made all year round in the studios of some of Ireland's most talented makers.
Over the coming weeks the Kilkenny People will explore the craft trail. Next week we will focus on the four MADE in Kilkenny members who are based in the city and in the following weeks we will follow the trail around the county. In People 2 next week Ray Power and Castle Arch Pottery, Ken Foley, Rebekah Patterson Milliner and Goldsmith Rudolf Heltzel will all be featured.
The other members of the MADE in Kilkenny are Andrew Ludick, Carl Parker, Derek Blanche, Maeve Coulter, Rosemarie Durr, Moth to a Flame, Nicholas Mosse, Phillipe Heiter, Clay Creations, Earthworks Ceramic Studio and Gallery, Jerpoint Glass. Cushendale Woollen Mills, The Bridge Pottery, Aileen-Anne Brannigan, Baurnafwa Willow Works, Bruce de Kocks, Cramor Pottery, Duncan Russell, Inga Reed, Jackie and Ed Keilthy Jewellery and Jane Huston.
The launch of MADE in Kilkenny will take place at 1pm on August 8 in Butler House, 16 Patrick St There is, in fact, a little 'craft exhibitions opening circuit' on that Saturday with the exhibition opening at 1pm in Butler House, followed by a stop off at 2pm in the Rudolf Heltzel Gallery, 10 Patrick St and ending at 3.30pm in the National Craft Gallery.
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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