The World Crafts Council delegates and members from across Europe host their annual General Assembly in Dublin on 8th June, followed by the Year of Craft 2011 Public Conference on 9th June. The conference will address issues under the common theme of 'Craft Conscious: Re-shaping Global Futures in the Innovation Age'.

The conference's key speakers include Brian Keaney, the designer and co-founder of Finland-based design company Tonfisk and Päivi Jantunen, the author of a new book about Kaj Franck. Other speakers include Edmund De Waal; world renowned potter and author of 'The Hare With Amber Eyes' and Leonardo Bonanni, teacher of the ‘Future Craft' programme at MIT and a world leader in sustainable design.

Päivi Jantunen is a long term collaborator of Kaj Franck's and in the recently launched book 'Kaj & Franck, Design & Impressions' she celebrates the 100th anniversary of Franck's birth. She worked for Arabia and Iittala for nearly four decades, and in a the book she interviews Franck's friends and colleagues to give new insights into his life and work. Brian Keaney is the co-founder of Tonfisk Design who came to to study in Finland in 1996 and has been living there ever since. In 2007 Brian Keaney was awarded the Ilmari Tapiovaara award and also the Ornamo Design Prize.


WCC is an international and non-governmental non-profit organisation. Its general objective is to strengthen the status of crafts as a vital part of cultural and economic life, to promote a sense of fellowship among the craftspeople of the world and to offer them support and advice.

More information:

World Crafts Council Meeting & Year of Craft Conference
Year of Craft
Tonfisk