Inspirational Handcrafted Creations Get Internet Savvy
Internet meets Gallery at the exhibition like something different at Our City O-Tautahi during August and early
September. Talented Christchurch crafters from internet savvy community Felt have brought their unique one-off or
limited edition creations to Our City O-Tautahi, showcasing design smart and environmentally aware handmade goods
alongside their stories of how their increasingly visible and accessible online community challenges homogenous mass
production.
Managed by Lucy Arnold, Felt is a Christchurch-based online marketplace for handmade goods, designed to support a
community of artists, designers and craftspeople to promote their work and connect with buyers. Ms Arnold says that Felt
was based on principles of a sustainable creative process.
“I’ve always been interested in the philosophy and integrity of handmade products and the cottage industry, and the
sociological and economic effects of small-scale enterprise.
“When people come to the exhibition we want to evoke an emotional response and a sense of the intellectual connection
that this community of like-minded crafters have,” says Ms Arnold.
Our City O-Tautahi Exhibitions Coordinator Fiona Clayton says she hopes the exhibition will inspire an appreciation for
the ways crafters were developing as an online group to support each other through online forums and developing
sustainable business models that connected to conscious consumers.
The exhibition continues at Our City O-Tautahi from 18 August – 11 September, cnr Oxford Tce and Worcester Boulevard,
free admission.
ENDS