Appreciating Contemporary Artisans
'Handmade in Britain', was created as an initiative to support and promote designers who create their work in the UK. The book is written by Piyush Suri, the founder of the website and organisation www.handmadeinbritain.co.uk. The organisation aims to maintain high standards in the craft sector and to create opportunities for buying and selling craft.
Flipping through the book you are confronted with page after page of beautiful, arresting images of crafts, from ceramics and textiles through to glass, jewellery, furniture, metal work and more. A brief but fascinating, bio about each of the 90 contemporary designer-makers featured gives an insight into the lives of the makers and their inspiration. It's just enough to entice you to find out more.
The book will adorn my coffee table for the foreseeable future. I plan to visit the websites listed for each maker and take a look at their blogs too!
I asked Piyush how he chose the designers involved and whether he would be writing more books to support maker-designers in Britain, it would be a wonderful book to be a part of for any contemporary artisan based in the UK.
There was an application process to apply to be a part of the book, Normally in many books you only get to see famous names, but I wanted to select makers who don’t live in big cities so this could be an ideal opportunity for their work to reach members of public. I have tried to create a balance of up and coming designer-makers and few established ones.
I am in the process of thinking a new idea for the book, I want to create a series of Handmade in Britain books – with different concept and ideas and possibly my view as a director of Handmade in Britain, how to raise the profile of British Designer-makers.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Handmade in Britain, head to Vivays Publishing (who very kindly sent me this copy to review) for more details.
ISBN - 978-1-908126-38-2