The Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester: an untold story

A talk by Barry Clark.

John Ruskin, William Morris, Walter Crane and other big names in the Arts and Crafts movement were frequent visitors to Manchester. However in this talk Barry will focus on lesser known Manchester-based Arts and Crafts architects, artists and artisans who, in 1896, formed the Northern Art Workers’ Guild in the city. With over a hundred members and three major exhibitions in the city the Guild was part of a northern craft revival that was neither rural nor London-focused – an essential component of the Arts and Crafts movement located here in the heart of industrial England. The Guild was unusual for its time in that women were active and equal members, holding office, giving talks and designing the poster for the Guild’s first exhibition in 1898. Barry’s beautifully illustrated talk, sharing many original documents, will bring all this to life as he reveals the untold story of Manchester’s extensive involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Barry Clark is an experienced speaker and a retired Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer with a life-long interest in the Arts and Crafts movement. He is co-author, with Stephanie Boydell and Richard Fletcher, of the recently published The Northern Art Workers’ Guild and the Arts and Crafts movement in Manchester. Barry is a craft bookbinder, chair of the Society of Bookbinders’ North West and North Wales region, and tutors the Portico library’s bookbinding workshops.