Ai Weiwei: Making Sense
Ai Weiwei is back with a major show at London’s Design Museum, this time focusing – appropriately enough – on design, as the artist turns his gaze to Chinese artefacts. Displaying never-before-seen objects from his personal collection alongside his own works, Weiwei opens up debates about how we value craft skills and about histories that have been forgotten or wilfully erased.
7 April – 30 July at The Design Museum, London
Swords into Ploughshares: Knives into Jewels
In a bid to re-shape public discourse around Britain’s problem with knife crime, 35 international jewellery and metal artists have transformed knives handed over to UK police into pieces of wearable art; the results are surprising and striking in equal measure.
Until 13 May at MAKE Southwest, Devon
At Home in the Wild
Lichen-filled nests appear among other woven vessels in this solo exhibition by revered basketmaker Joe Hogan. Hogan’s practice is embedded in nature: since 1978, he’s lived in West Ireland’s bucolic Loch na Fooey, where he grows his own willow and harvests materials like bark, larch and bog myrtle twigs to weave his works.
Until 29 April at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Ashish: Fall in Love and Be More Tender
London's William Morris Gallery is hosting the first major survey of high-glamour fashion designer Ashish Gupta. Presenting more than 60 of his pieces, the exhibition explores how he established his joyful aesthetic, his engagement with political issues, and why handicraft is essential to making his sequin-adorned garments.
Until 10 September at William Morris Gallery, London