We’ve been working to keep Make Works, the factory finding resource, alive since 2018. Between Helen Voce and Kaye Symington and our own freelance projects we’ve been keeping the site updated and looking for opportunities to connect the various regions, partner with potential new regions and meet people across Scotland. Earlier this year, Make Works Scotland and Kulturzentrum LUISE’s Bespoke project was one of 15 projects selected in the Cultural Bridge 2023-24 programme celebrating artistic partnerships between the UK and Germany.
Thanks to the Make Works network, we were able to forge partnerships in Germany to develop the Bespoke project, which naturally emerged from a shared interest in engaging and developing communities of purpose-driven creative producers, artists and communities in our respective countries. Through international exchange, we hoped to uncover the potential for communities rooted in local craftsmanship, arts, making, sustainability and grassroots networks to make a difference locally and globally.
Visiting Rumpus Room, photographer Helen Voce
Alongside the fantastic Clara at LUISE, in Munich we have the invaluable support of Dr Thomas Smith, a Postdoctoral Fellow at LMU’s Department of Geography (and Make Works enthusiast!), artist Doro Seror and anthropologist Ana Sofía González Sandoval. In Scotland, we have the experienced insight of Dan Brown, Curator of Research at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop (ESW) and Director / Curator Janine Matheson at Sierra Metro, formerly Director of Creative Edinburgh and GCAN.
Kalopsia Collective, photographer Janine Matheson
Make Works Scotland hosted our German partners in Glasgow and Edinburgh (with a little bit of Fife!) at the end of April 2023. Our packed itinerary included manufacturers and facilities listed on Make Works Scotland (Flux Laser & CNC Studio, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Edinburgh Tool Library, Kalopsia Collective), independent studios (Christopher McEvoy and Vevar, Still Life Workshop, Deirdre Nelson also a Director of Repair Café Glasgow), creative hubs (Agile City at Civic House, Sierra Metro, Tinderbox Lab, Custom Lane, Local Heroes, The Skinny), and community arts organisations (Rumpus Room, Kinning Park Complex, WHALE Arts).
Our reciprocal visit to Munich drew parallels in terms of the values and passion of the people we met and how they were motivated to work in and for their communities, optimising their resources, utilising and sharing their skills and providing spaces for creativity to flourish. Morning visits were to the Münchner Werkzeugbibliothek, Bellevue Couture and the Künstlerhaus lithography studio. Over lunch at Import Export we valued honest conversation with members of the City of Munich Department of Arts & Culture and Rat & Tat Kulturbüro, followed by an in depth exploration of the Kreativquartier, expertly led by studio tenant Doro; visiting Treibgut and Treibstoff, Atelierhaus, Werkbox3, Zona Libre and the studios of Wunderkammaa and Raquel Ro.
For a full rundown of the project and what we achieved you can read more on the Make Works Blog.
