Workshop weekend

I spent a weekend at a community workshop in a converted warehouse on the south side. The theme was loose: bring a thing, make a thing, or sit and watch. About eighteen of us turned up across the two days.

What people made

• Block-printed textiles (the largest contingent).

• Two zines, one of which was very good.

• A pair of leather earrings made by someone who had never touched leather before.

• A small wooden box.

• About four hundred polaroids.

The actual point

Not the things people made. The configuration. Eighteen people in one room, all making different things, none of them performing, all of them within elbow distance of someone making something they could not make themselves. That configuration is rare. Most of the rooms I am in are configured around one craft, or around an audience, or around money. This one was configured around the act of making, which sounds like the same thing but is not.

I came home with a textile I am not very proud of and a list of three people I want to keep in touch with. The trade is good.