The Craft Edit March 2026

Here at Craft Scotland we’re looking towards Spring and celebrating news and achievements from across Scotland’s craft sector. Read on to discover the latest awards, announcements, publications and projects.
 

Image L to R: Eda Obermanns, Dr Elizabeth Goring, Sarah Hutchison and Bryony Knox

Alchemy: Goldsmiths Scotland to Launch in Spring 2027

A major new jewellery show, Alchemy: Goldsmiths Scotland, has been announced and will launch in Spring 2027.

Elements Festival, run by the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust and held at Lyon & Turnbull auction house, last took place in 2023. The closure of the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust and this important jewellery showcase and selling fair was a huge loss for the community of contemporary silversmiths and jewellers in Scotland.

Earlier this month silversmiths Sarah Hutchison and Bryony Knox, working alongside Dr Elizabeth Goring and Eda Obermanns, announced their vision for a new event that will champion contemporary jewellery and silversmithing in Scotland while welcoming makers from across the UK and beyond.

The first Alchemy; Goldsmiths Scotland in Spring 2027 will usher in an exciting new chapter. The Alchemy team hope that it will grow into an annual event and become a vibrant platform for makers, collectors and the wider craft community.
 

Hannah Sabapathy / Photography by Grant Anderson

Hannah Sabapathy Selected For New Zealand-Scotland Textile Residency

Dundee-based designer Hannah Sabapathy has been selected for a new international residency programme, Textile Legacies. The programme was created to strengthen ties between two UNESCO Cities of Design, Dundee and Whanganui, and through examining shared ancestral textile practices.

Hannah trained as a textile designer and uses this knowledge to interrogate the power dynamics behind South Asian and British textile design history through pattern. She is joined in the residency by Matthew McIntyre Wilson, a Whanganui-based designer whose work intertwines Māori cultural practices, museological inquiry, and contemporary craft.

The long-standing textile traditions of Whanganui and Dundee are powerful expressions of place-based cultural identity. Simultaneously, these histories also carry complex legacies — including the impacts of colonisation, war, and cultural suppression — which have shaped and, at times, disrupted cultural development. The resurgence of traditional textile techniques provides an opportunity for design heritage to shape contemporary identities and creative practices.

The two designers will initially swap cities, with Hannah arriving in Whanganui this month and Matthew in Dundee in April. They will each spend a month learning and sharing with the local design community, bringing unique cultural perspectives that will broaden creative practices in both cities.

The residency runs from March to April 2026, with outcomes to be shared publicly in both Dundee and Whanganui.
 

Image: Militsa Milenkova, Dolerite Goblets, part of the Edinburgh Assay Office permanent collection / Photography by Shannon Tofts

Scotland Shines at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards

The annual GCDC Awards, often referred to as the ‘Jewellery Oscars’, were held at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London on the 9th of March 2026.

A host of Scotland-based jewellers and silversmiths received awards in recognition of their outstanding achievements. Award winners include Alice Biolo, Militsa Milenkova, Qiwei Liu, Monica Findlay, Annabel Hood and Elizabeth Jane Campbell.

In addition the Glasgow School of Art was presented with the prestigious College Trophy Award 2026.

Image: Amy Findlay / Photography by Megan Orr

Scotland-Based Makers to Exhibit at 'MAD About Jewelry', New York

Three makers will represent Scotland at MAD About Jewelry 2026, an exciting annual showcase of original, innovative jewelry design held at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.

Work by Amy Findlay, Natalie Baker and Elizabeth Jane Campbell will be on display from the 5-9 May.

MAD About Jewelry is returning for its 26th year, and will feature artist-made jewelry from 45 visionary creators spanning more than 20 countries, including emerging talents and internationally acclaimed innovators.
 

Image: Bryony Knox / Photography by Rachel Hein

Bryony Knox Receives the Inaugural Edinburgh Assay Office Award

Edinburgh-based Silversmith Bryony Knox is the recipient of The Edinburgh Assay Office Award, which launched in 2025. This new Award, aimed at supporting a sustainable Silversmithing sector in Scotland, is a continuation of the Edinburgh Assay Office’s longstanding commitment to championing excellence in craft.

The premise of the award is to create a noteworthy piece of silver by asking the question, what is one piece of contemporary silver you have always dreamed of making, but never had the chance to? The deciding panel included representatives from the Edinburgh Assay Office and the Hugo Burge Foundation.

Image: Within the Frame at London College of Fashion, 2025

Preserving Hand Quilting with ‘Within the Frame’

This month the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh is hosting Gather Around the Frame: A Celebration of Hand Quilting. This special day of activity, which includes a drop-in Quilting bee, a display of archival materials and a panel discussion, is one of a growing series of events organised by Within the Frame.

Cultural heritage preservation and research project Within the Frame is a collaboration between Deborah McGuire and Dr Jess Bailey, two historians each with a passion for quilting. Based at the Centre for Historical Reconstruction Research, Edinburgh University, Within the Frame campaigns to ensure the continuation of the practice of hand quilting in a flat frame. This traditional form of quilting is now critically endangered in the British Isles and was recently added to the Heritage Crafts Red List.

‘Quilting history has been marginalised as a rural, working-class, domestic, and mostly women-led artistic practice. This tradition’s current visual and material culture is at risk of erasure as practices fade and matrilineal networks across generations are fracturing.’ - Within the Frame

Visit Within the Frame’s website to learn more about safeguarding this craft practice and what it can teach us about building contemporary craft communities into the future.
 

Makers at Work: New Online Interview Series

A new series of interviews, ‘Makers at Work’ celebrates Scotland as a place of making, capturing a diversity of disciplines, practices and making spaces. Created by Panel and MAKE, this series of conversations accompanied by new photography by Mark Gillies has been published on the MAKE website.

Articles featuring the work of Colin Campbell, Marc Sweeney, Juli Bolaños-Durman and Cara Guthrie have been released, with more makers interviews to follow in the coming weeks. 
 

Image: Cally Booker / Photography by the artist

Publication: 'Designing and Weaving Double Cloth' by Cally Booker

A new book by Dundee-based weaver Cally Booker has been published by The Crowood Press. Designing and Weaving Double Cloth lays out techniques used to create complex, multi-layered woven fabrics.

With detailed instructions and over 500 images, it provides a comprehensive guide, while encouraging makers to explore the full potential of the technique. Aiming to offer something for everyone, from the double cloth novice to the experienced weaver, the book is availible in bookshops and online.

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