Artisan Craftsmanship and Communities Under Threat

​Host: Turquoise Mountain

​Cultural heritage traditions - from tangible buildings to intangible craft traditions - are under threat from conflict, climate change, and displacement.

​Far from being a luxury, these traditions are often a lifeline - both economically resilient, and preserving a sense of community and identity when so much else is disrupted.

​This session will include a presentation, followed by breakout discussion groups on the subject of artisan cultural heritage under threat around the world.

​The presentation will explore Turquoise Mountain’s work with artisans in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria - across craft training, connections to markets, and community support.

​Turquoise Mountain’s Percy Stubbs will provide an overview of this work which he has been involved with over the last 20 years, and then Afghan-British designer Maryam Omar will speak about her work with artisans from Afghanistan and elsewhere on training and commissions for exhibition and retail.

​A new collaboration with Oxford Museums and Multaka, the “Storylands” exhibition, will give an example of the human stories behind these traditions. Breakout groups will then discuss and share experiences and ideas for placing culture and heritage at the centre of development work, in an increasingly fractured world.

​This venue has a capacity of 60.