London Craft Week 2026
West Dean: Where Craft Lives
Celebrating the breadth and imagination of craft practice at West Dean, London Craft Week 2026 exhibition presents work from our FdA, BA and Master’s students. The exhibition reflects West Dean’s long‑standing belief that making is a form of thinking, and that the workshop is a space where ideas are shaped as much as materials.
Founded in 1971 by Edward James, West Dean was envisaged as a place where heritage skills could be protected and passed forward, and where new forms of craft could emerge from the meeting of tradition, experimentation and careful, sustained labour. Today, the college continues that vision through immersive studio environments where the bench and the desk work side by side, and where the rhythms of making guide both practical skill and creative enquiry.
Students across the college work in a wide range of disciplines: fine furniture and metalwork, ceramics, bookbinding and letterpress, horology, tapestry, and the making of stringed instruments. These areas are taught with deep respect for material, technique and history, while encouraging students to test boundaries and explore contemporary approaches.
