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 35 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. Art in Manufacturing was developed to engage manufacturers in a way that was meaningful to them, to do something that offered the incredible industrial makers of the region an opportunity for purposeful creative exchange that would draw on their history, people and expertise.
The commissioning programme provides artists with a unique platform from which to develop their practice, conceive of and deliver ambitious ideas, and reach new participants and audiences with their work.
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. The Festival of Making is a Community Interest Company, led by a Board of Directors.
Elena Jackson, Festival of Making Director + AiM Programme Curator
Lauren Zawadzki, Festival of Making Director
Daisy Williamson, Producer
Emma Colbert, Social Media and Marketing
Jamie Holman, Chair of the Board, Art in Manufacturing Advocate
Claire Mander, Board Director, Art in Manufacturing Advocate
Ed Matthews Gentle, Creative Lancashire, Partner
