We are excited to support National Museum Scotland, Edinburgh and National Museums NI, Belfast who are developing a collaborative exhibition, that will showcase up to 16 newly commissioned works of Craft. These commissions will create a dialogue around how Contemporary makers based in Scotland and Northern Ireland see their practice as part of a shared historical tradition of making, through the development of design styles, processes, techniques, and material exploration, as well as how artisans of the past continue to resonate with today’s makers.
16 makers who are residents of Scotland or Northern Ireland are being supported to create works inspired by the museums’ collections and by current research into decorative and making heritage from the Mesolithic to the medieval period.
Participants were selected following a call out for applicants earlier this year and are being invited to explore the legacy of making that connects Scotland and Northern Ireland via shared cultural heritage, traditions of manufacture and the transmission of decorative design. Their practices encompass everything from metalworking and textiles to bookbinding, stone carving and enamelling.
The participating makers are:
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Jan Bowman, a textile maker based in Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland
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Stuart Cairn, a metal artist based in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland
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Cameron & Breen, a goldsmithing collaboration between Martin Cameron and Laura Breen based in Randalstown, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
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Iseabal Hendry, a basket-weaver and wood worker based in Strathcarron, Ross-shire, Scotland
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Choi Keeryong, a glass artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland
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Thomas Keyes, an illuminated manuscript and graffiti artist based in Cromarty, Black Isle, Scotland
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Toben Lewis, an artist bookbinder based on the Isle of Iona, Scotland
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Finn McCallum, a stone carver based in Kirk Yetholm, Scottish Borders, Scotland
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Naomi McIntosh, an artist working in wood based in the Cairngorms, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
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Patricia Millar, a ceramic maker based in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
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Cara Murphy, an enamellist and silversmith based in Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland
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Frances Priest, a ceramic artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland
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Angus Ross, a furniture maker based in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland
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Andrea Spencer, a glass artist based in Balliintoy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
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Karen Westland, a silversmith based in Glasgow, Scotland
The exhibition opens at NMS on 17 July 2027 to coincide with the Edinburgh Art Festival before then moving to NMNI in early 2028.