Space CRAFT

If you want craft made in Northern Ireland from up and coming artists try here!
Also worth going the first Thursday of the month! #LateNightArt

Space Craft is THE place to visit if you love crafts or want to find a unique gift for someone. It’s a lovely combination of shop and gallery, showcasing a range of ceramics, jewellery, sculptures, design items, fabrics, cards and art by local makers.
I occasionally drop in just for a browse even if I don’t need to buy anything as I love this shop so much. The crafts exhibited change constantly and are an absolute feast for the eyes. It’s also wonderful that this store (which is owned and managed by the Craft & Design Collective) showcases work by young, emerging artists, giving them vital exposure and an opportunity to sell their creations.
A visit to Space Craft is a must if you’re in Belfast City centre. There’s a huge choice of items with a broad price range. So whether you’re looking for a little, low cost treat for yourself or a beautiful, luxurious wedding gift — you’ll find it here. The only flaw is the location of the store — it’s up the escalators in Fountain Centre therefore it’s so easy for people to miss, forget about or just not know it exists. A crying shame as Space Craft is one of the best shops in Belfast.

This is a worthwhile visit for about 30 minutes.
Small, but varied, and some interesting pieces showing imagination and creativity.

When I visited Space Craft NI the Slow Burn exhibition of ceramics was still on, besides the resident display of arts and craft in the centre. There was an opportunity to vote for your favourite piece — the artist getting the most votes wins £500 — which I did, without hesitation and now I’m dying to find out who wins, because it is the type of place that inspires enthusiasm.
From one end to the other the display is extremely varied — from prints to card, ceramics, jewellery, wall hangings etc. As it is possible to get something most original for less than £10 if you want, and more if you can it is good to know that you could support local designer crafts people in their work.
It’s an attractive light, airy space. I think it’s an advantage that it’s medium sized so there is not too much to take in at once and the central location in the city centre is brilliant for dropping in on spec.

Space Craft is an exhibition area based up the stairs of the Fountain Centre on College Street, beside the fountain clock (see review) which opened in 2007 and aims to promote the encouragement and sale of art, craft and local design. The light and spacious
gallery shows work from local artists and consists of a variety of sculptures, installation video, 2D and 3D pieces. It sells all manners of cards, gifts, jewellery, fashion accessories and home wares. Some of these items were of particular interest to me (especially the ‘flying’ bird which really caught my eye) Other artists who particularly intrigued me were; Heather Burgess (
), Stephen Farnan’s Pottery and Fiona Kerr’s Jewellery. I’d never been in to this gallery before so it was interesting to note that range of items on offer and the layout and design of the shop really pleased me. It felt lovely and airy and calming. I’d like to see what other work they show as some on offer was a bit of a let down, but I’m sure they could provide a selling point for some great work. One thing I was particularly impressed with was the way that the assistants are the artists themselves so they can relate their own stories and experience about the items personally giving you a more detailed and special insight to the piece.