//The Craft Guerrilla Manifesto//

Craft Guerrilla is a designer maker lead collective set up to bring well made, high quality, beautifully designed hand made goods to the masses as well as the promotion of the philosophy of the value of the craftsman/woman and their place in the world.

We aim to work within the community where we live & operate, collaborate with small local businesses and indie retailers so we can offer something of true worth as well as promote the value of hand made products.

We are a collective and a co-operative created to promote great design, great ideas, great people and great hand made goods!

Creating with our hands and the opportunity to learn to make should be something we all have access to. The ability to purchase original work by talented makers is also imperative as is to have a well regarded and respected space to sell that work: Craft Guerrilla is about making, sharing skills with each other as well as with the public and offering opportunities to fellow creatives. And finally and with no less importance fight for the rights of all makers and designers.

“…I do not want art for a few; any more than education for a few; or freedom for a few… “
― William Morris

//So what are we all about?//

The aim of The Craft Guerrilla is to join forces with others to set up craft events in vacant or unused venues,associate with indie businesses,provide a community to link and cross promote independent designer makers,sister armies in other cities,share web traffic,and provide realistic information and resources to our designer makers.

The Craft Guerrilla Army is taking on the world for a better hand made existence! We’ve had enough of soulless, mass produced tat and so has the average consumer.

Craft Guerrilla serves both as a resource and a viable platform to showcase up and coming designer maker talent through retail opportunities.
We serve as a model and we hope others will join too!

//A little bit of our story…//

Craft Guerrilla was born out of a shared idealism of bringing back craftsmanship by promoting hand made above quickly made mass produced consumer goods!

It all started -officially- back in 2008 by Ceramicist and all round crafter Deborah Daniel as a direct response to mass production and the inequalities the majority of workers face within the textile industry. Also the need to be more hands on creatively in today’s society played a huge part through the realisation of the power of the mechanics of making as a therapy…

Plus the need to bring hand made goods back into a level synonymous with quality goods. We truly believe like William Morris did that craft is a powerful socioeconomic tool which benefits more than just the makers and this is why we also promote the sharing of skills through a series of workshops and events.

// Make & Educate //

Craft Guerrilla is all for education and that’s why we’ve set up our highly successful D.I.Y. craft nights and mini workshops providing educational workshops open to the public and held by professional designer maker tutors to empower everyone to be more craft sufficient!
We’ve also worked with organisations and corporates to provide interactive and educational events.
Though we believe everyone should be able to learn a skill we also believe the teaching of skills should be charged and this is why we are part of the campaign “Stop working for FREE”.
Because if anything offering skills at no pay actually does more harm then good,after all we want to show the value of hand made and not treat it as something of less worth then a mass produced item. In the long run expertise should be remunerated appropriately and fairly.

//FAQ’S//

What is the East London Craft Guerrilla and The Craft Guerrilla connection? “The East London Craft Guerrilla” is simply: the first Craft Guerrilla army! As we’re based in East London and this is such a big city we thought it would be great if we could leave it open for others to join us in the other compass points!

Can I become a member? Membership application is open to all but your products must fit within our esthetics criteria and philosophy.
However you do not need to be a member to sell at our fairs/markets.

Do I pay commission on any sales at Craft Guerrilla markets? NO, definitely not, you pay for a stall and that’s it!

Do you pay craft educators to deliver CG workshops? Absolutely, we always pay our tutors, educators, helpers and even entertainment (DJ’s). Your expertise and time are valuable!

How much do I pay for a stall? It’s all dependent on the venue/location though we do price our stalls fairly and competitively.

Can I set up my own “Craft Guerrilla”?
The name “Craft Guerrilla” is trade marked so you’ll need prior consent before you set up. Although we’d love a few more sister armies we need you to apply because we are a collective so certain standards and guidance needs to be followed but It’s easy and we’d love to hear from anyone who is interested! If you want to be part of The Craft Guerrilla army please e-mail us!

Can Craft Guerrilla help fund my collective?
Because we are independently run and self funded we do not have the capacity or funds to support other collectives or organisations.

Can I copy/ host your events? The events we’ve created and the work we do serves as a model and we welcome others to follow our lead thought we’d appreciate it if anyone who was thinking of providing our events to the general public to get in touch prior to offering these. Although we don’t own the rights to these, for example in the case of the DIY Craft Nights , we do “own” the intellectual property for this event. It took years of hard work and planning… besides it’s rude to just copy other people’s work! We know that it’s a great format and this is why we’d like to join forces with any potential collaborators. The applications from potential candidates to open their own armies (see above) is easy and open to all but not necessary if you’d like to host similar events… just get in touch.

//Please feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions: craftguerrilla@yahoo.com or hello@craftguerrilla.com //

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