Inspirational Handcrafted Creations Get Net Savvy

Internet meets Gallery at the exhibition like something different at Our City O-Tautahi during August and early September. Talented Christchurch crafters from internet savvy community Felt have brought their unique one-off or limited edition creations to Our City O-Tautahi, showcasing design smart and environmentally aware handmade goods alongside their stories of how their increasingly visible and accessible online community challenges homogenous mass production.

Managed by Lucy Arnold, Felt is a Christchurch-based online marketplace for handmade goods, designed to support a community of artists, designers and craftspeople to promote their work and connect with buyers. Ms Arnold says that Felt was based on principles of a sustainable creative process.

“I’ve always been interested in the philosophy and integrity of handmade products and the cottage industry, and the sociological and economic effects of small-scale enterprise.

“When people come to the exhibition we want to evoke an emotional response and a sense of the intellectual connection that this community of like-minded crafters have,” says Ms Arnold.

Our City O-Tautahi Exhibitions Coordinator Fiona Clayton says she hopes the exhibition will inspire an appreciation for the ways crafters were developing as an online group to support each other through online forums and developing sustainable business models that connected to conscious consumers.

The exhibition continues at Our City O-Tautahi from 18 August – 11 September, cnr Oxford Tce and Worcester Boulevard, free admission.

ENDS