The Lost Art of Lace Making

Discover an ancient lace craft tradition and make your own needlework memento with a designer repopularising historic artforms through digital technologies.

The delicate art of bobbin lace making is an ancient traditional craft originating from Europe and spreading to China and America in the 17th century. A fan of the complex patterns it creates, Zhaodi Feng is a graduate of the Royal College of art and Imperial’s Dyson School for Design Engineering, who believes crafts like bobbin lace should not just be a cultural heritage discipline with its products confined to museums. Instead Feng sees these traditions as sources of ongoing inspiration as she works to apply the lessons from historical making techniques into modern interaction design.

In Feng’s lost craft tent at the Great Exhibition Road Festival, you will get a chance to play with a musical device designed to encourage appreciation of bobbin lace in a new context, before creating your own lace mementos that will in their own small way help keep the memory of this beautiful ancient traditions alive.

Visitor information

This is a drop in event with step-free access. To plan your visit, you can download a copy of the timed events schedule and map (pdf) or see the printed programme (pdf). This event is point 17 on the map.

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