Edinburgh design gallery Bard marks its first anniversary celebrating the soul of craft

Bard Edinburgh design store.

It's been one year since Bard opened its doors: the Edinburgh design gallery has been dedicating its spaces to championing local artisans through a carefully curated display that celebrates contemporary craft. Now it marks its first anniversary with an exhibition titled 'The Grit and the Glamour', curated by founders Hugo Macdonald and James Stevens (on view until 28 January 2024). 

Bard unveils 'The Grit and the Glamour'

Bard, located in in Scotland’s oldest customs building in the historic port of Leith (Image credit: Murray Orr)

'“The Grit and The Glamour” is about craft and Scotland, and craft in Scotland,' says Stevens. 'Our debut exhibition at Bard is a celebration of the rough and the smooth. Today we are told that a friction-free existence is aspirational. We don’t agree. In our smooth world we need to feel things with our fingers and souls. Craft is a powerful, enlivening force. It is embodied knowledge, culture, skill and has an anthropological intrigue that is too often overlooked. As with life, it can be gritty and glamorous simultaneously.'

Installation view from 'The Grit and the Glamour' (Image credit: Murray Orr)

On display are Fair Isle throws with geometric patterns by Marie Bruhat, furniture in oak, Lewisian gneiss rock by Glasgow-based designer James Rigler, salt and pepper mills made of resin and black peppercorns by Marc Sweeney, and silk textile artworks by Louise Bennetts. The showcase was assembled to demonstrate the wide variety of Scottish craft and highlight its contemporary voices. 

The pieces are displayed throughout the gallery on reclaimed shipping crates originally used for tea, a nod to the location's past as Scotland's oldest customs building, in the historic port of Leith. All items can be purchased via the gallery's website or on-site. 

'The Brodgar Stool' by the Orkney Furniture Maker (Image credit: Murray Orr)

'Craft is not about taste; it is concerned with bigger ideas than trend or style,' adds Macdonald. 'We are keen to show the extent to which craft can please and provoke, inspire and enliven minds, eyes and hands, simultaneously. We are interested in the power and potential of craft to make us feel things, in an increasingly unfeeling world.'

'The Grit and the Glamour' is on view at Bard until 28 January 2024

Bard
1 Customs Wharf, Leith
Edinburgh EH6 6AL

bard-scotland.com

Shetland wool throws by Marie Bruhat and cermics by  Joshua Williams (Image credit: Murray Orr)

'Haptic light' by Jack Brindley (Image credit: Murray Orr)

'Cat Throne' in Plaster, Vine Black and yellow ochre pigments, by Steven and Ffion Blench of Chalk (Image credit: Murray Orr)

Encaustic ceramic trivets by Frances Priest (Image credit: Murray_Orr)

'Wild Clay Boxes' by Viv Lee and Jonathan Wade (Image credit: Murray_Orr)

Salt and pepper mills made of resin and black peppercorns by Marc Sweeney (Image credit: Murray_Orr)