There is art at play in Lancashire’s countless, largely invisible factories: hundreds of people embark each day on creative tasks, working with remarkable attention to detail to produce the beautiful, the delicious and the complex, from the most delicate to the most durable products on earth.
To date, the programme has commissioned 38 artists to work with 26 artisan and mass manufacturers. The residencies create a platform not just for the making of new work, but for sharing experiences and connecting across boundaries.
The commissioning programme was conceived as part of the initial development of the National Festival of Making in 2016. The curatorial team were developing a creative programme in Blackburn, where manufacturing accounts for a much greater number of jobs than the national average and has been part of the cultural and social fabric of the community since the industrial revolution.
It is for this reason that Art in Manufacturing intentionally locates the industrial sector at its centre. Developed in parallel to the Festival, it formed a commissioning partnership with The Super Slow Way, an Arts Council England Creative People and Places programme. Since the first residencies, artists have brought a hunger for experimentation with proposals that eschewed expectations, testing their own boundaries, those of their partner manufacturers and that of exhibition space and site.
For commissioned artists, the programme offers a unique opportunity to take risks and be ambitious in the development of new work. Within this space, the workforce is the creator alongside the artist, challenging perceptions of who makes art, and who it is experienced by. Putting artists in residence with manufacturers can be creatively disruptive but the outcomes for artist, industry and audience are remarkable.
Art in Manufacturing is the National Festival of Making’s headline commissioning programme. The programme is devised and led by the Festival team with support from freelance Creative Producers.
Elena Jackson, Festival of Making Director + AiM Programme Curator
Lauren Zawadzki, Festival of Making Director
Daisy Williamson, Producer
Emma Colbert, Social Media and Marketing
Simon Webbon, Freelance – Marketing & Audience Development
Helen Kemp, Freelance – Producing
The Festival of Making is a Community Interest Company, led by a Board of Directors.
Rosy Greenlees OBE, Chair
Claire Mander, Non-Executive Board Member
Dr Carly Henderson, Non-Executive Board Member
Elena Jackson, Executive Director
Jamie Holman, Non-Executive Board Member
Lauren Zawadzki, Executive Director
Rachel Cunningham Clark, Non-Executive Board Member
Salma Chaudhry, Non-Executive Board Member (Finance Board)
Wayne Hemingway MBE, Non-Executive Board Member & Co-Founder
Zainab Rawat, Non-Executive Board Member
