A new collaboration for Make Works Scotland

On behalf of Make Works Scotland, we are partnering with Kulturzentrum LUISE in Munich to fully understand the potential for communities rooted in local craft, sustainability and grassroots networks to make a difference locally and globally.

With Helen Voce, Make Works Scotland (MWS) Co-Lead, taking the reigns we are planning an exchange between Scotland and Bavaria. First, German partners will participate in a three-day guided visit to Scotland, meeting Make Works listed manufacturers/makers and representatives of creative and cultural hubs to gain an insight into their work, plus maker communities/practitioners in the wider, existing MWS creative community. We look forward to cross-cultural conversations around zero-waste, sustainability, circular economy and more, and the role of purpose-driven enterprises and communities.

Building on this, MWS and Scottish representatives will visit Bavaria for a two-day workshop to reciprocate meetings and conversations with German partners in the LUISE cultural centre and via guided visits to the Munich Creative Quarter. This will be followed by a one-day MWS workshop to map regional creative assets, producers, makers, manufacturers, skills, hubs, etc.

We’re looking forward to regular pre-meetups with our German partners!

This activity is thanks to funding from the Cultural Bridge Programme - of which we are one of 15 partnerships between UK and German-based organisations, who have been awarded funding to develop cultural projects exploring issues facing communities across both countries.

With investment from seven major partners: Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London, Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland and Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International, Cultural Bridge is the first project that sees all organisations collaborate on a single fund.

Visiting CES for Kickstarter

You might have noticed a bit of a theme with our client work this past year. Kaye has been working closely with Kickstarter to support their Design and Tech outreach team, alongside our work with their team in Japan and with their Comms team.

We were really excited to get the opportunity to travel with the Design and Tech team to CES this year. It was our first time at the show and it was absolutely unbelievable. We’re led to believe at HALF the capacity to what it was pre-pandemic.

Kaye met with 100s of product designers and startups to share the great work that the Kickstarter Design and Tech team do, and showcase ways in which the team can support projects on the platform. She also took over the Kickstarter social channels to share a slice of what was happening on the floor at CES.

Glasgow Print Fair 2022

We cannot tell you how thrilled we were to be able to have an in-person Glasgow Print Fair again - you can see a full list of artists on our website.

With our co-organisers Maraid Design, we invited over 50 artists and printmakers together for a day of printmaking fun at The Lighthouse - a venue that had been closed since lockdown. We brought with us yummy food and drinks from Us V Them Coffee and Big Bear Bakery.

We were back at pre-pandemic levels with our counters topping out at over 2000 visitors and more than 70% of our stallholders making over £1000 on the day!

We also received sponsorship from Kickstarter to help make our billboard dreams come true with Build Hollywood as we took over 6 locations in Glasgow with our bright colourful billboards that celebrated our print artists.

We were featured in Creative Boom, The List Magazine, The Metro and took over the middle pages of The Skinny! What an absolute joy running Glasgow Print Fair is.