Ireland's most innovative craftspeople will have a platform to show off their creativity from next month when a national craft gallery opens in Kilkenny.
Managed by the Crafts Council of Ireland, the gallery will be in the Crescent building, Kilkenny Castle's former stables, and will showcase contemporary craft and design from Ireland and abroad.
Based on visits to other attractions in Kilkenny, the gallery is expected to have up to 165,000 visitors in its first year. It should provide a boost for an industry which has seen annual growth of 14 per cent for the past five years, employs 6,000 people in 1,800 micro-enterprises and has a turnover of £92 million.
However, the council's chairwoman, Ms Frances Ruane, said increasing the size of the industry, while welcome in itself, is just one objective. "We're hoping not just to grow but to increase the incomes of people involved in crafts," she said.
The council was set up in the 1970s and is engaged in developing the industry through initiatives including training and apprenticeships, business development, accreditation, marketing and information.
Next month's opening exhibition, "Interiors", will feature work by some of the finest contemporary designers and crafts people, including furniture-makers, weavers and ceramicists working in Ireland today.
"It won't be the kind of exhibition where you can just go and buy something off the shelf," Ms Ruane said. "We asked them to produce something more cutting-edge and innovative and to see it as a research and development opportunity to create something new, so it should be very exciting."
The gallery was designed by Orna Hanly, whose recent work includes the Irish Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany.