unanchored crafting at london craft week 2025

The traditional reliance on local materials for crafting is gradually diminishing under the influence of global migration. Artists now have the opportunity to explore the crafting technologies of other cultures through traveling, while also sourcing materials from the farthest corners of the globe via international trade. As a result, creativity is grounded in a much wider range of information, with the concept of "anchoring" becoming a thing of the past. Today, compared to a fixed space-time, the context of crafting begins turning towards a random journey.

At the same time, objects move across regions at an unprecedented speed. This causes unfamiliar cultures to scatter in fragmented forms throughout modern life, where they are then deconstructed, reassembled, and rapidly iterated. Creolisation has replaced multiculturalism as the new universalism, with translation, digital imagery, and imagination becoming common approaches of communication and understanding.

Can craft calm the restlessness and uncertainty of the post-truth society?

How can materials and techniques once tied to different cultures be integrated, and what contradictions arise from this?

What do these combinations reveal about power structures and identity politics?

In the upcoming exhibition Unanchored Crafting, artists rooted in different countries will showcase their works from 2023-2025. In the space provided by Alsolike Gallery, bamboo weaving coexists with minimalist metal structures, rough cowhide wraps around delicate silverware... These unfamiliar images will reveal how artists are exploring personal exploration within the new culture landscape.