The Capital of Craft LIVE

Over 3 days, The Capital of Craft LIVE in the Tower Room will present a range of talks, masterclasses and panel discussions with a range of leading makers. All talks free unless marked. 

Friday

Hosted by Hywel Pontin

10.30am Masterclass with brush maker, Rosa Harradine. Rosa's work is also featured in our exhibition, Woven at Oriel Canfas. BOOK HERE

Rosa will discuss and demonstrate broom making, including sorting and processing of the material, how to bind the broomcorn onto the wooden handle and how to stitch the fibres together. She will also talk about the history of broom making and share information about the broomcorn plant. This is not a hands on workshop. 

Noon Talk with Cathryn Gwyn, Weaves and Words* Cathryn will give show and tell talk about her mixed media practice - textiles/ lettering/ print/ art books. She will reflect upon the connections between woven thread and text and the ways in which her work combines these two interests. BOOK HERE

2pm In Converstion: Ann Whittal, curator National Wool Museum with Makers from Wales: Lowri Davies (ceramics), Dylan Glyn (furniture), Cathryn Gwyn (textiles) and Catrin Howell (ceramics).* BOOK HERE

3.15pm In Conversation: Sarah James MBE with broadcaster and writer, Kate Humble. BOOK HERE

Kate Humble is a broadcaster and author of five books, including Thinking On My Feet, A Year of Living Simply, Home Cooked and Where the Hearth Is. A champion of the environment, nature conservation and rural affairs, she is president of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and founded Humble by Nature, a rural skills centre on her farm in Wales. She lives with her husband and other assorted animals on a smallholding in the Wye Valley.

In her latest book, Homemade, along with a wide range of recipes, Kate also offers inspiring stories from 20 individuals who play a role in bringing food to our tables, from basket weavers and apron makers to blacksmiths and woodworkers; potters and glassblowers to fishermen and cheese-makers; farmers and chocolatiers to distillers and salters. At Craft Festival Wales, Kate will be in conversation with Sarah James MBE, Craft Festival director and host of The Capital of Craft podcast. Kate will be signing copies of her book after the talk. 

Saturday

Hosted by Hywel Pontin

10.30 Talk Dr Charlotte Hammond, University of Cardiff. Unravelling Woven Histories of Welsh Wool and Slavery through Creative Research BOOK HERE

Noon Lewis Prosser, Absurdist basket maker, Basket making performance with cellist, Daniel Davies. This performance will take place outside Castle Green House. BOOK HERE

12.30 Talk with Suzi Park from Cambrian Wool: Making and Working with Welsh Wool. BOOK HERE

2pm Mary Lewis from Heritage Crafts in Conversation with Ann Whittal and Llio James about tapestry weaving on the Red List. Ann Whittal is curator of Welsh Woollen Mill in Drefach Felindre and Llio James is a weaver from Cardiff. BOOK HERE

3.15pm Panel Discussion with makers from the Town Trail with Hywel Pontin and ceramic artist, Bonnie Grace BOOK HERE

Sunday

Hosted by Jem Roberts

10.30am Talk: Calico Dress Cymru: Crafting an embroidered community folk costume for Wales BOOK HERE

Menna Buss is lead Textiles Artist custodian of Calico Dress Cymru, a community folk costume for Wales.
Commissioned by Museum of Wales in 2022, Calico Dress Cymru is the first of a series of legacy projects designed by Kirstie Macloed of the highly acclaimed Red Dress. Having travelled extensively, the Red Dress has collected voices in stitch of marginalised individuals around the world. Menna joins us to tell the story of how Calico Dress Cymru is offering its own cloth for embroidery and community connection in Wales. Menna says “though close to 300 people have left their mark in stitches in Swansea alone, for the project to grow into a truly ‘national dress’ I am committed to gathering responses from around Wales, asking what do we treasure about and hope for Cymru.”

Noon Panel Discussion chaired by Mary Eluned with makers from our Woven exhibition with Laura Thomas, Llio James, Suzi Park and Tom Hare. Woven is hosted at Oriel Canfas from September 5-October 5th. BOOK HERE

1.30pm Enter the Robots by Hijinx Theatre.

“Hello humans. Welcome to your future. Relax. Slow down. You can stop what you are doing. You don’t have to work anymore. Stay at home. Put your feet up. We’ve got this. We are the Robots. We will take it from here.”

In the future, everyone is gifted a robot from their local authority. Life will surely be so much easier! What could possibly go wrong? Enter the Robots is a playful, participatory street theatre show which asks, who is really in control of who in the age of AI?

BOOK HERE

3.30pm Enter the Robots by Hijinx Theatre

“Hello humans. Welcome to your future. Relax. Slow down. You can stop what you are doing. You don’t have to work anymore. Stay at home. Put your feet up. We’ve got this. We are the Robots. We will take it from here.”

In the future, everyone is gifted a robot from their local authority. Life will surely be so much easier! What could possibly go wrong? Enter the Robots is a playful, participatory street theatre show which asks, who is really in control of who in the age of AI?

BOOK HERE

All events are held in the Tower Room, upstairs in Castle Green House.  Lift available. *indicates talk in Welsh, with continuous translation available. BSL Interpretation.