Creative Lives are teaming up with Heritage Crafts for a programme of events and on-air coverage of crafts in Coventry, to coincide with Coventry City of Culture.
The initiative is funded in part by Coventry City Council. From January until March there will be a series of craft workshops and on-air content focusing on how “making” has defined the city in the past and continues to do so today; from the wool and leather trades, through ribbon making, and watchmaking, through to car and bicycle making.
Coventry is a city steeped in craft skill, and that legacy continues to this day with these skills and many more. They will be using this opportunity to celebrate the role that “making” plays in keeping us healthy, happy and engaged with the material and social world around us, and its contribution to local distinctiveness and place.
There will be a big flagship event on 26 March at Drapers Hall combining influential and inspiring talks, demonstrations of craft skills and opportunities for you to take part.
As part of this project there are to be a series of workshops where people can try their hand at a range of crafts
If you are curious to try your hand at some heritage crafts, you’re in luck! They will be hosting a series of craft workshops in different venues across Coventry. Participation is FREE and open to everyone in Coventry (check eligibility requirements when registering):
Weaving workshop: 17 February (10.30am – 12.30pm)
Ghanaian Waist Beads workshop: 23 February (1pm – 3pm)
Gold Embroidery workshop with Hanny Newton: 10 March (3pm – 5.30pm)
Leather craft workshop with Nigel Armitage: 15 March (2.30pm – 5.30pm)
You can find out more about the workshops here.
Heritage Crafts is also inviting people of Coventry and the surrounding area to tell them about stories of “making” in their families, whether that was in the city’s past, or from other places in the world their families might originate from.
Did your ancestor or family member work in one of Coventry’s iconic industries such as ribbon weaving or car manufacture? Or perhaps they worked from home in a ‘cottage industry’ or as an independent artisan working in a workshop? Perhaps you are involved in “making” of some sort and this activity you share with your family member or ancestor gives you an insight into their life, or makes you feel closer to them in a way that just hearing or reading about them might not?
Some of the best stories will feature on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio as well as being showcased at a special event at Draper’s Hall in Coventry on Saturday 26 March 2022.
If you have a story to tell, please let Daniel know at daniel@heritagecrafts.org.uk. You can also contact him if you’d like to get involved in any other way.