After last year's success, the British Council is happy to announce the second edition of its Circular Open Studios. Co-curated by Zoë Powell Best and the British Council team of cultural managers, this year's event will gather experts and designers from across Europe who are connected through their practices, under the overarching theme of ‘Design with Care’. The series will consist of three events which will take place every two weeks (Jan. 24th, Feb. 7th and Feb. 21st). During each session, we will explore the themes with three creatives of different nationalities and backgrounds, to reflect on how history, innovation, cultural practices and ethics can connect and inform us to develop a more sustainable design future.
Over the course of three sessions, we will be focusing on:
- Care for the natural world and legacy.
- Care for the community and knowledge access.
- Care for material usage and resourcefulness.
This year’s sessions will be hosted online in the late morning to enable more participants to attend across multiple time zones. All sessions will be held in English and recordings will be available afterwards on this site, as well as on our YouTube and Facebook channels, where closed captions and transcripts can be accessed.
PROGRAMME
Session 1 - Natural World and Legacy (January 24th) 11:00 - 14:00 hs CET/GMT+1.
- The Dyer's House (Spain), education on natural fibers and dyes and ecoprinting.
- Junele Textiles (United Kingdom), bespoke wall decore out of waste yarn.
- Kraftmade (Romania), performative objects, unique pieces, capsule collections, restoration, education with a focus on wood and textiles, as well as heritage and future.
Session 2 - Material Usage and Resourcefulness (February 7th) 11:00 - 14:00 hs CET/GMT+1.
- Rafael El Baz (United Kingdom), playful material exploration that questions how our interactions with them impact the planet.
- Spazio Meta (Italy), recovering and reusing materials and scenographies from ephemeral installations at the service of artists and designers.
- Luisa Kahlfeldt (Germany) product designer and creative consultant focused on material and product development.
Session 3 - Community and Knowledge Access (February 21st) 11:00 - 14:00 hs CET/GMT+1.
- Sanne Muiser (The Netherlands), expertise in the needle felting technique, using (natural) fibres, reusing fique & jute fibres.
- Periferica (Italy), urban regeneration through social, cultural and artistic processes.
- The Stitchery and ZWDC (UK), creative sewing tuition in Glasgow and Zero Waste Design Collective (ZWDC).
Circular Cultures is the European arm of the British Council’s global programme ‘Making Matters’, which has a particular focus on supporting emerging talent and future trends. This programme addresses sustainable design and creative economies, aiming to promote greater awareness around circularity and sustainability. With the goal of embedding a more critical dialogue around design and circularity, it leads to developing skills and knowledge of making leaders and creating exciting new EU networks around sustainability and circularity. The programme currently operates in 9 countries across Europe: France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The British Council is member of the New European Bauhaus from the European Commission – shaping a greener and fairer way of life in creative and inclusive societies through Architecture, Design and Arts.