Crafting Futures supports the future of craft around the globe. This British Council programme strengthens economic, social and cultural development through learning and access. Crafting Futures’ projects support practices and people, through research, collaboration and education.
Through international collaboration, Crafting Futures creates new networks and opportunities for shared learning between the UK and other countries around the globe. The programme supports research and education in craft, ensuring our projects are relevant and the quality of creative practice is preserved and continues to develop. Crafting Futures offers designers and artisans access to knowledge and expertise, new markets and new audiences, ensuring the value of craft is appreciated more broadly and knowledge can continue to be shared within the sector.
We work with a consortium of partners in the UK and match them with overseas partners. We are supported by Regional Advisory Groups of local craft, design, technology and social enterprise experts.
The programme is currently active in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Latin America.
In Malaysia, Crafting Futures aims to improve the overall quality of life of indigenous artisans, particularly female weavers, at the same time attracting the younger generation to learn these skills and see craft making as a viable income, bringing the ancestral tradition into contemporary relevance.
Working with the Institute of Design Innovation at Glasgow School of Art, the programme will include developing creative toolkits for both artisans and designers drawing on the wisdom of rural and island communities to generate new processes, knowledge exchange around materials, design process and eco-friendly production, and creating channels of access to the textiles to the wider public.
