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UK’s Harewood House Hosts First Biennial of Master Crafts

The exhibition of furniture, metalwork, textiles, and more will be presented as part of the estate’s grand reopening

By Pilar Viladas
Elegant classical room with tall red columns, ornate fireplace, and busts on pedestals against a gray wall.
The entrance hall of Harewood House, a landmarked 18th-century home in Yorkshire, England. Photo: Paul Barker / Courtesy of Harewood House Trust

Marble statue of embracing figures in ornate gallery with busts and decorative ceiling.
The entrance hall of Harewood House. Courtesy of Harewood House Trust

The word craft is now applied to everything from furniture to beer—which makes this the perfect time to explore its meaning, both practical and cultural. “Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters” will do just that when it opens on March 23 at Harewood House, a landmarked 18th-century home in Yorkshire, England, that boasts plenty of craft of its own, including interior architecture by Robert Adam and Thomas Chippendale furniture. Curated by the design critic Hugo Macdonald, the exhibition features the work of 26 British talents in furniture, metalwork, textiles, glass, and other fields, as well as three site-specific installations by the contemporary British designers Max Lamb, Faye Toogood, and Anthony Burrill.

Colorful patterned chair in a room with ornate Persian rugs and dark wood table.
Detail of Yinka Ilori’s chair design on view in Harewood House. Courtesy of the Harewood Biennial

Recommended: Sir John Soane’s West London Home Restored to Its Former Glory

Stately home with neoclassical architecture, large columns, and manicured green lawn under a partly cloudy sky.
Harewood House from the north. Harewood House Trust and Olivia Brabbs

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2019 Spring issue in the section The Artful Life. Subscribe to the magazine.