Come watch, experience, listen, admire, learn, try and most of all: make!

With international workshops, demonstrations, and master classes the Craft in Focus Festival is thé event on master craftsmanship. With Industry City as the perfect venue, there is ample space for the broad program.

MISSION

In a world where children are swiping their iPhones and 3D printers are building houses, it is this festival’s mission that the art of true craftsmanship will survive, and that it will thrive. In a time of serial mass production and consumption, the beauty of handmade quality products should be revalued. The knowledge of passionate, highly skilled master craftsmen should be shared with a wide audience of all ages. With these objectives at the forefront of our imagination, in 2013 an annual festival was founded and produced in Amsterdam, The Netherlands: the Craft in Focus Festival. It has been a huge success in The Netherlands, and in May 2019 this three-day event is brought to New York for the second time. The Craft in Focus Festival 2019 is organized in partnership and simultaneously with Wanted Design Brooklyn, part of IC Design Festival and partner of NYCxDesign.

Workshops

Airbrush painting introduction with Marissa Oosterlee

May 18th | 6 PM and 10 PM |

Marissa Oosterlee is a Dutch illustrator who is renowned for her photo-realistic airbrush paintings. She has worked for various large companies such as Davilex, Nintendo, Jumbo and recently, for Constantin Film, she created the film poster for a new Netflix series. In addition, she creates many commissioned portraits, including one for Queen Beatrix’s town hall. Marissa has been teaching airbrush painting worldwide for fifteen years now. In this workshop you will learn basic airbrush skills, introducing you to great tips and tricks while learning how to properly handle an airbrush.

Eco-print your own scarf with HAWAR, Harm Harms & Meinie Wardenier

May 18th | 6 PM – 11 PM

May 19th & 20th | 11 AM –  4 PM

HAWAR textile institute from Friesland in The Netherlands brings their expertise to Craft in Focus! During the workshop eco-printing you can create your own scarf, using natural dyeing techniques. Leaves, flowers and twigs can transfer their natural color to fabric. With eco-dyeing – also called plant printing – a pattern is printed on fabric with leaves from different plants. The trick is that the leaf not only leaves a colored spot, but that even the grain is visible in the print. At Textile Institute HAWAR they know exactly how you can achieve this. During the workshop they will teach you about the natural colorants of the different leaves and how you can make a nice sharp print. In this workshop you will make a pattern of different leaves on an Etamine de Laine scarf. The woolen scarf has a size of 180 by 50 cm. Hawar provides an extensive selection of leaves, and you are warmly invited to bring your own plant, tree or flower leaves. The result will then be a surprise! Harm Harms is known for his innovations in the field of textile processing. He developed the Funpump for dyeing on textiles as well as a new type of felting machine. In 1980 he founded HAWAR with Meinie Wardenier. What started as a silk painter’s studio has grown into an internationally renowned textile institute. In combination with a very extensive store and an inspiring gallery, it is a unique place for the textile lover.

Calligraffiti with Daan Wille aka Team Blazin

May 18th, 19th, 20th | 11 Am – 5 PM

Amsterdam based artist Daan Wille, aka Team Blazin, has specialized in calligraffiti, a combination of calligraphy and graffiti. With the famous Dutch graffiti writer Shoe as his source of inspiration, Wille is by now an all-around graphic designer, with a passion for calligraffiti. In this workshop you will learn how to make your own piece of art with your name written on it.

Pottery with Floortje Roetemeijer

May 18th | 6PM – 11 PM

May 19th & 20th | 11 AM – 6 PM

It looks so easy and satisfying when you watch a professional potter at work, but trying it yourself is a completely different experience. And so much fun! Dutch potter Floortje Roetemeijer is a true expert at throwing, and is happy to assist you with your first (or second) try. In half an hour she will teach a maximum of two students, so you will get a lot of personal attention and guidance.

Make your own leather mystery braid bracelet

May 18 | 11 AM

May 19 | 4:30 PM

May 20 |  1:30 PM

Leathercraft is an ancient craft used for many different functional and decorational purposes. The combination of a beautiful product of nature; vegetable tanned leather and many versatile techniques will let you make anything you desire by hand. With the right knowledge and tools there are no boundaries in creativity and creation. Danielle Roossien (The Netherlands) has been a natural handworker since childhood. After working with many different materials and techniques she finally found here love and passion in leathercrafting 10 years ago. She travelled the world to learn from the masters face to face and started her own company in custom leather work and demonstrating the craft.

Make your own carved leather coin pouch

May 18 | 4 PM

May 19 | 2 PM

May 20 | 11 AM

In this workshop students will learn the basics of how to decorate vegetable tanned leather with carving techniques. We will be making and coloring a formed coin pouch, finished and assembled with traditional edge braiding or stitching. Leathercraft is an ancient craft used for many different functional and decorational purposes. The combination of a beautiful product of nature; vegetable tanned leather and many versatile techniques will let you make anything you desire by hand. With the right knowledge and tools there are no boundaries in creativity and creation.

Make your own stone inlayed leather bracelet

May 18 | 1 PM

May 19 | 11 AM

May 20 | 3:30 PM

In this workshop students will learn the basic techniques how to process vegetable tanned leather. They will have the change to personalize a lined bracelet with an inlayed stone and finish the sides with traditional hand stitching.

Print your own letterpress poster

May 18, 19 | 11 AM – 6 PM

In this 45 minute workshop we teach you the origins of how to typeset, design and print your own A4 size letterpress poster. You can use the wooden letters, make a small sentence of the metal type and combine them with the illustrations of Maartje van den Noort. GWA stands for Graphic Workshop Amsterdam. The aim of the foundation is to conserve the Dutch Graphic Heritage and keep the craftmanship alive. We do so by providing workshops, courses and interdisciplinary projects.

Master Classes

Airbrush painting with Marissa Oosterlee

May 19th & 20th | 11 AM – 6 PM

Marissa Oosterlee is a Dutch illustrator who is renowned for her photo-realistic airbrush paintings. She has worked for various large companies such as Davilex, Nintendo, Jumbo and recently, for Constantin Film, she created the film poster for a new Netflix series. In addition, she creates many commissioned portraits, including one for Queen Beatrix’s town hall. Marissa has been teaching airbrush painting worldwide for fifteen years now. In this workshop you will learn basic airbrush skills, introducing you to great tips and tricks while learning how to properly handle an airbrush.

Basketry Coiling with Esmé Hofman

May 19th | 11 AM

May 20th | 3 PM

Coiling is an old basketry technique that leaves room for experiments with materials, shapes and colors. Participants will learn the basics of this technique. Based on examples from Esmé’s collection, participants are set to work with a small basket or a freer form. You are invited to bring your own materials to work or experiment with, like plant materials such as straw, grasses and bark, but also textile threads or unprocessed wool, plastic or metal threads. Esmé Hofman (The Netherlands) is a traditionally trained basketmaker and learned the foundations of the craft at the German basketry school.  As a modern craftswoman, she looks beyond the borders of this traditional handcraft. This gives her the freedom to explore creative possibilities, and generates other ways of making. Her techniques and materials now vary from the traditional to the contemporary using natural stems, leaves, bark, wire, plastics, vellum, paper and lots of colour. She is an internationally renowned and award-winning crafts master, working for designers, artists, museums and private costumers.

Basketry Plaiting with Esmé Hofman

May 18th | 10 PM

May 20th | 11 AM

Plaiting is a basketry technique that is traditionally used in Asia, South America and Scandinavia. The material used are strips of identical material, which are intertwined in a straight, diagonal or hexagonal way. The most common traditional material used is split bamboo, palm leaf, rattan, et cetera. Plaiting is used for braiding baskets, mats, house walls and seating in chairs. Participants are introduced to this technique and learn how to create a container / basket. Esmé Hofman (The Netherlands) is a traditionally trained basketry specialist, who learned the foundations of the craft at the German basketry school.  As a modern craftswoman she looks beyond the borders of this traditional handcraft. This gives her the freedom to explore creative possibilities, and generates other ways of making. Her techniques and materials now vary from the traditional to the contemporary using natural stems, leaves, bark, wire, plastics, vellum, paper and lots of colour. She is an internationally renowned and award winning crafts master, working for designers, artists, museums and private costumers.

Basketry stone wrapping with Esmé Hofman

May 18th | 6 PM

May 19th | 3 PM

Do you treasure a beautiful stone as a reminder of a walk or a vacation? Bring it to the festival and make it super special! In this basketry workshop you learn with which knots and windings you can emphasize and beautify the character of the stone. These knots and windings have their origins in Japanese basketry and ikebana. You can bring your own stone or another special object. Esmé Hofman (The Netherlands) is a traditionally trained basketmaker and learned the foundations of the craft at the German basketry school.  As a modern craftswoman she looks beyond the borders of this traditional handcraft. This gives her the freedom to explore creative possibilities, and generates other ways of making. Her techniques and materials now vary from the traditional to the contemporary using natural stems, leaves, bark, wire, plastics, vellum, paper and lots of colour. She is an internationally renowned and award winning crafts master, working for designers, artists, museums and private costumers.