The Heritage Craft Project

In 2018 a large six figure bequest was left to the Company with the sole end use of restarting the art of fan making in the UK. The challenge was taken up by Past Master Colin Bramall, who put together a small team of specialists. The Heritage Craft project was born and the team set about talking to fashion designers, the retail sector and art colleges. What became blatantly obvious was that training would need to be at the heart of the project.

A partnership for training was formed between Chelsea College of Art/UAL and West Dean College. The partnership is in its third year of an overall project life of ten years. Nearly 200 students from the BA and MA Product Design courses have studied a month-long module called “Rethinking the fan” which forms part of their final degree. Some 30 of the best students and their designs have gone on to study fan making on a one-week residential course held at West Dean and taught by leading experts in topics ranging from woodwork to paper engineering.

In an age of sustainability and global warming, the popularity of the use of the hand fan is very evident in everyday life in the UK. As we experience summers as hot as anywhere in southern Europe, the use of the hand fan is very relevant. This project aims to produce fan makers who can fulfil the orders for the hand fans of the future.