National Festival of Making 2019

I'm absolutely delighted to be invited back at the National Festival of Making 2019. It's going to be jam packed weekend full of making activities and inspirational talks to get the nation making again!

This year, I'm bringing together some incredibly talented South Asian women from Blackburn for Aunty Ji's Making Corner.

I'm also a panelist on two events as part of the Talks Programme on Sunday 16th June - 'Culture, Creativity & Place - Festivals as a Movement for Change' and 'Art In Manufacturing' - Panel discussion.

If you're in Blackburn on the 15th and 16th June 2019, come and see us at the Festival Hub and join with a range of making activities between 11am - 6pm. The Curry Club ladies demonstrating samosa making. The ladies from Humraaz Support Services are teaching people to make the humble chapatti and Riff Howarth will be making henna candle decorations and teaching the public how to tie a sari (it's not as complicated as you think!)

TALK EVENTS in association with Creative Lancashire

Culture, Creativity & Place: Festivals as a Movement for Change

Sunday 16th June 2019, 1.25pm - 2.25pm.

What do festivals tell us about society and cultural policy planning?
How do festivals reflect, present and celebrate the diversity of communities and society?
What is the role of festivals in specific places?

Last year the government announced plans for a nationwide festival to take place in 2022, in celebration of the creativity and innovation of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, recent studies consider festivals mainly as manifestations of urban regions. Is a festival the answer to fixing a broken and divided nation in a post Brexit, Trumpian age?

This panel, featuring leading creative producers and cultural organisations, alongside some of the faces who conceived the vision for NFM in Blackburn, will explore the role of festivals in cultural integration and transforming places. Hosted by Kathy McArdle of the British Council, this panel will also consider the tensions in the different perspectives of a festival’s role as a representation of artistic values vs the commercialisation of culture.

Panel Participants:

Christine Cort (Managing Director, Manchester International Festival)
Dawinder Bansal (Producer & Artist, AIM 2018 Artist)
Kathy McArdle (Director England & Cities, British Council)
Paula Akpan (Co-founder, Black Girl Festival)
Robert Howell - (Director, Culturapedia)
Wayne Hemingway MBE (Hemingway Design and Co-founder of NFM)

This event is FREE to attend. There are limited spaces available on the day, so please book your place in advance. Click here to book your place.

Art In Manufacturing - Artist Panel

Sunday 16th June 2019, 2.30pm - 3.30pm

Hosted by Jamie Holman, in association with Creative Lancashire.

Art in Manufacturing (AIM) is a co-commissioned collaboration between the National Festival of Making and Super Slow Way. It pairs artists and makers with manufacturers and domestic artisans, giving the artists access to specialist machinery and heritage craft techniques, to create work that forms an integral part of the National Festival of Making.

Over the festival weekend we offer opportunities to hear more about the works created for the 2019 AIM showcase, through in-situ talks, panels and interviews with the artists, commissioners and host manufacturers involved with the current and previous exhibits.