June 10th - June 24th
Sligo's annual celebration of all things quality and design led
WB’s creative sisters Susan (Lily) and Elizabeth(Lolly) are celebrated during the LilyLolly Craftfest again this June along side the Yeats Day festival.
The festival is a ten-day long programme of over 40 events including discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on good fun workshops where experts and novices alike roll up their sleeves up and get crafty.
The workshop programme this year is given by leading Irish craft designers in ceramics, jewellery, embroidery, weaving and felting and is matched by a suite of exhibitions and demonstration events throughout the week.
Topping the list of “must see” this year is a reprise of the insightful Conversation with Designers event at the Factory Performance Space which took place for the first-time last year. The event is hosted again by Eddie Shanahan of the Council of Fashion Designers, in conversation with Internationally renowned film costume and fashion designer Una Burke who heralds from neighbouring Roscommon. Alongside the event an exhibition in the Factory foyer will feature an exciting array of textile art pieces and fashion from graduates of the Textiles Fashion Design and Business Management Degree Programme at St Angela’s College (NUIG), giving a unique insight into the future of Irish fashion design.
Other textile related elements of the exhibition programme include “IMPRINT”, the annual Textile Collective show featuring many Sligo practitioners and “Play” by the National Textile Network curated by the internationally regarded traditional & contemporary needlecraft artist Mary Palmer. Mary will also be giving a workshop in Sashiko Quilting.
Highlights in the workshop programme feature masterclasses with leading designers from all over Ireland. They include Anne Keller (Lace making), Frances Crowe (Weaving) and Astrid Hoffman (Vessels/Wet Felting). Traditional craft will meet hi-tech in Computerised Embroidery Workshops with Susan O’Sullivan.
Now in its sixth year Craftfest Northwest started as a once off celebration for the international Year of Craft in 2011 when DCCOI asked local contemporary jewellery designer Martina Hamilton to spearhead a craft celebration to mark the year in the Northwest. There is a close association with Yeats related celebrations that take place in Sligo each year as the Yeats’ sisters Susan and Elizabeth (Lily and Lolly) were a major force in the revival of Irish craft in the early 1900s. A further tie in with Sligo’s vibrant Made in Sligo craft network and St Angela’s Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design has seen the festival evolve into an anchor summer event for the town and region.
For all events at St. Angela's College please contact Ursula on 0719135659 or email [email protected] to book
For more details visit the Lilylolly facebook page.