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Crafts issue 286: Speaking across divides

In our January/February issue, we meet artists who use making as a language

Textile artist Anya Paintsil, photographed for Crafts by Mary McCartney

For many of the makers in our January/February 2021 issue, craft is a way to communicate across cultural and social divides without words. In South Africa, we visit ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane, who has developed a unique vocabulary of symbols drawn from the Xhosa culture of the Eastern Cape that seeks to heal rifts.

Discover ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane, whose symbolic ceramics tell moving stories

We speak to a group of contemporary artists in the Arctic Circle, for whom the craft and material culture of the Sámi people is a unifying force against threats to their traditions and communities. And in the UK we meet emerging talent Anya Paintsil, whose sculptural textiles are threaded with humour and a sharp critique about racism.

We hear from the Sàmi artists going global, despite their communities being on thin ice

Elsewhere, a group of designers, artists and makers channel their problem-solving skills into practical solutions for the common good, an urbanist explores how craft could save our cities post-COVID-19, and actor Jeremy Irons offers an ode to the skilled boat-builders near his home in Ireland.