Craft and early human history go hand-in-hand. Every find unearthed by archaeologists was made or marked by human interaction with the materials they bent, cut, carved, hammered or built. The innate curiosity of the mind, allied to our desire to create, has embedded the act of making deep in time and the human psyche.

Planned pre-Covid by curator Tara McKinney Marinus for the Hampshire Cultural Trust, this exhibition at the Willis Museum has been nearly two years in gestation. Shown to brilliant effect in the Sainsbury Gallery, it features 22 Hampshire and Berkshire Guild members’ work alongside photographic portraits by David McKibbin and biographical notes on each maker, written by me.

Entry to the the exhibition is free, and it runs until July 17th.