Friday Lates: James Fox’s 'Craftland'

Britain has always been a craft land. For generations what we made with our hands defined our identities, built our communities and shaped our regions. Art historian and broadcaster James Fox's new book 'Craftland' chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions that once governed every aspect of life on these shores.

Travelling the length of Britain, from the Scilly Isles to the Scottish Highlands, Fox seeks out the country’s last remaining master craftspeople. Stepping inside the workshops of blacksmiths and wheelwrights, cutlers and coopers, bell-founders and watchmakers, we glimpse not only our past but another way of life - one that is not yet lost and whose wisdom could shape our future.

To mark the release of 'Craftland' and on the occasion of our current exhibition ‘Millet: Life on the Land’, Fox presents his research and is joined in conversation by journalist and writer on environmental issues, Lucy Siegle.

This event is part of Art History Festival 2025 organised by the Association for Art History.

James Fox is an academic and multi-award-winning, BAFTA-nominated broadcaster, known for his many acclaimed BBC documentaries. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the arts and crafts across Britain. He is also the author of the celebrated 'The World According to Colour: A Cultural History'.

Lucy Siegle is a writer, broadcaster and public speaker on ecological issues and sustainability who has been at the heart of contemporary conservation and environmentalism for two decades. She is author of five books including 'To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing out the World?' nominated for the Orwell prize. She is co-producer and stars in the Netflix hit documentary, ‘The True Cost’.