Makers & Museums
Craft not only serves to nourish the soul and feed the spirit, but also connect us to our common humanity & ourselves.
We set out to create true adventures of the heart.
We established Makers & Museums having over decades been drawn to the power of craft, the art of making and the benefits of seeing artisans form objects in close focus. Craft not only serves to nourish the soul and feed the spirit but also connect us to our common humanity and ourselves. Makers & Museums set out to create true adventures of the heart. Transformational experiences where our guests connect with the creative powers that radiate from the artists we meet along our journeys.
Our first Makers & Museums in 2016 was to Finland to celebrate the best of Finnish art and design. It included visiting the studios and homes of the most esteemed craft artisans working today, as well as past masters, such as Aalto and Saarinen. We combined these with behind the scene tours of museums, gallery visits guided by curators, and culinary experiences too. Such an off-the-beaten-track tour has meant that we went on to visit Finland four times. We compiled such experiences to Japan, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, South Korea and Ireland – a portfolio of 10 trips over eight years.
Months of research and planning, and years of searching and learning, means what each tour we created was a specialist experience, and in its own way uniquely wonderful.
Yvonna Demczynska
& Cathy Giangrande
Founders – Makers & Museums
While Flow focuses on our 25th Anniversary, the Makers & Museums tour programme is on pause during 2024. We welcome all who are interested to get in touch – we’d love to share our discoveries abroad with you soon.
Ireland 2023
Journeying across Ireland, this tour will showcase the best of Irish craft and design. As we travel from Belfast to Ballintoy, Galway to Cork, experience the nation’s majestic scenery and witness first-hand how some of Ireland’s most talented artisans are inspired by the native landscape. Assisted by The Design and Crafts Council Ireland, the tour’s itinerary has been specially created to take you to every corner of the country to meet Ireland’s best makers. The tour will provide a window to Ireland and the legacy of traditional crafts through intimate visits to over 15 artists’ studios and curator-led tours of Ireland’s finest galleries and museum collections. Join us to discover why Ireland’s craft is full of joy and spirit, enriched with the vibrancy of Irish history, nature, and creativity.