PORTHLEVEN BASKET FAIR:
To include a WATER AND WILLOW GALA event and ten days of BASKETRY CLASSES

1. PORTHLEVEN BASKET FAIR, 14th and 15th June 2003
Strand 1: Porthleven Village around the harbour, on the green and under canvas in the recreation ground. Saturday14th

• Demonstrations of baskets as used in the Fishing and Farming industries. So far, basketmakers have been invited from Ireland, Brittany, Spain and around Britain to work alongside lobster-pot makers and weavers of traditional baskets, working in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. The Basketmakers Marquee will accommodate Joe Hogan, Colin Manthorpe, Lee Dalby, Martin Orchard, Luis Gras, Carlos Fontales, Philippe Guerinel and Francois Desplanches, who will be making their own traditional regional baskets; whilst George Chambers, Brian Richards and Sue Morgan will be making lobster pots. Their demonstrations and results will enable dialogue on weaving techniques, woven objects and their cultural significance. In this context, Cornwalls' - and in particular Porthlevens' - relation to other European regions with similar traditions will be addressed. Further practioners and makers will be invited to participate with interactive demonstrations and by leading hands-on workshops.
  
  
  
• Free workshop opportunities for the public to experience basic basketry techniques. The focus of these drop-in workshops will be to make and take away a piece of willow-work, or to contribute to a larger structure.. These will be taking place in The Willow Sculpture Marquee, to be erected on the Monday prior to the event and used as a base for workshops and for finishing and storing the willow and paper decorated boats & structures that will be sent to sea on the Sunday Gala Day.Workshops will be led by Willow Works Collective.
  
• Stalls with basketry related information, such as details of national and international basket-weaving courses, others selling baskets and tools of the trade.
  
• Other stalls with an emphasis on displaying the work of local craftspeople
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• The Public Hall will be used to host the Annual Summer Meeting of the Basketmakers' Association . It will be a venue for exhibition, discussions, talks and slide shows. This venue will be used to promote the vision of Regional Basketry Resource Centres.
• T.S.W is putting together a collection of basketry footage from their archives, relating particularly to the South West and B.A members wil be providing other videos, to be shown at the public hall.
• A Ceilidh of Breton, Irish and Cornish tunes will take place on the Saturday evening, providing the public with an introduction to the music and movement to be used in the Gala Day Processions.
  

Strand 2. Basketry Courses Chyvarloe National Trust Base Camp, 8th to 21st June

• This venue offers accommodation and substantial workspace for courses and workshops, ranging in content from introductory lessons to advanced masterclasses. These will be led by basketmakers invited in the context of the fair.
• The first week will include a 5 day exploratory curragh building course, an affiliated event organised by Holger Lonzer for Falmouth Art College students and Basketmakers. The finished curraghs will be put to sea over the Basket Fair weekend.

Strand 3. Basket Fair, Water and Willow Gala Event:
"Setting to sea in small boats."
Porthleven Village and Harbour, Sunday 15th June This day will echo the Water Gala in 2000, a YOTA sponsored event, during which 200 willow lanterns, made by the people from Porthleven, floated out to sea at dusk.

• The emphasis of the demonstrations in the Basketry Marquee will be on interactive displays directed towards encouraging children to participate in making small items to take away or contributing towards larger pieces of work.. Workshop leaders will be Willow Works Collective, Ella Young, Kate Lynch, West Country Baskets, The Sjoholms (and more to come…….).
• The curraghs made during the previous week will be set to sea during the day.
• The Water and Willow Gala will revolve around the performance of a site specific show to take place in and around the harbour, which engages with structures of woven willow and will include music and aerial & fire displays.
  Sea and air-borne willow lantern structures will be made by members of the local community at workshops in the public hall, at the school and in the Willow Sculpture Marquee.
• They will be paraded in a procession during the day, by their makers and artists, performers and musicians involved in all aspects of the Fair. The lanterns will be launched at dusk, amongst a flotilla of decorated, illuminated boats and other small craft.
• Visiting basketmakers and other practitioners working with willow will be invited to submit entries on the Gala Event theme, to showcase their craft. The structures will be presented in a complementary display to the event, showcasing the versatility of basketmaking techniques with special reference to willow. They will be offered a working area in the Sculpture Marquee.

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