Made it to the End

If you happen to be one of the organised few already mulling over what to buy people for Christmas, you could do much worse than heading to Brighton’s contemporary craft fair Made 11 this weekend.

Made 11 will present more than 100 designer-makers and designers showcasing textiles, ceramics, jewellery, glassware, basketry and fashion.  This year’s bunch was chosen from an unprecedented amount of entries – about 500, according to Made organisers.

Now in its fifth year, Made was initiated by artist and printmaker Sarah Young and Jon Tutton, who are also the duo behind the Brighton Art Fair.

Anne-Marie Shepherd, one of the event organisers, says, ‘We select the exhibitors based on quality and having a mix of different media, and work that’s original. We want something quirky that we haven’t seen before, and a really good mix of work.’

This year’s fair includes lovely seabird-shaped homeware products from Anthony Theakston and a brilliant ruff-like creation courtesy of Julia Sissons, while Contemporary Lab and Vanilla Ink will be showing work from a selection of jewellery graduates, surface-design graduates and product-design graduates.

Shepherd says that over the years the fair has been running, she’s seen an increasing trend towards knitting, and more traditional craft techniques.

‘People are going back to the idea of wanting to make their own things’, she says. ‘It’s about trying to not waste things and recycling stuff. Also when it’s winter, people want to stay in and knit.’

Made 11 runs from 18 – 20 November at the Corn Exchange, Church Street, Brighton BN1