Emmanuel Cooper Memorial Lecture 2016

Emmanuel Cooper Memorial Lecture. We were very honoured to have Sir Christopher Frayling deliver this year’s lecture. This was the third in the series. The first lecture was given by Professor Simon Olding and the second by Alison Britton.

Sir Christopher’s title was “Craft, a word to start an argument…’ he took a packed theatre on a journey through, largely nineteenth and twentieth century history up to the present day charting the perception of the word craft in society. He cleverly expanded the lexicon of terms used to unpick and define the subject leaving his audience with plenty to think about and challenge themselves with regarding context and position of practice. He also drew attention to the education of crafts. While there maybe wider concerns surrounding this aspect, his lecture endorsed the local culture of Farnham as a Craft Town and how we are all in a position of responsibility to lead a new way forward.

Ashley Howard