Becoming a World Craft City
03 June 2025
Alex Nicholson-Evans, City Curator
There is something magical about walking through the Jewellery Quarter. It’s hearing the clink of metal tools behind workshop doors, the knowledge that behind old redbrick facades the next generation are learning world-class skills and it’s the merging of cutting edge innovation and hundreds of years of heritage.
I’ve always thought it was a special place, so special in fact that I made it my very first home in the city. As of this week, the rest of the world officially knows it too (if they didn’t already!).
Today we announce that Birmingham has just joined the likes of Jaipur and Kyoto in becoming a World Craft City – a title awarded by the UNESCO-affiliated World Crafts Council. This is not just another accolade to pop into a press release and then forget about. This is a real, weighty recognition of the creative soul of this city; our makers, our heritage, and our future.
It’s more than just a badge of honour. This designation is given to places that can show deep craft heritage, a thriving community of makers, and a commitment to keeping craft alive in new, exciting ways. It’s judged by international experts. It’s peer-reviewed. And only eight cities in Europe hold the title.
And now, so does Birmingham. Specifically we hold the status as a World Craft City for Jewellery and Allied Trades.
The story behind the award is, in itself, a celebration of collaboration. Led by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) and co-applicants Birmingham City University, the bid for World Craft City status was supported by Birmingham City Council and the Goldsmiths Company and was submitted back in October 2024.
In early April the city was visited by a panel of experts from around the world to assess our eligibility. They visited museums, studios and businesses across the Jewellery Quarter and beyond. They rolled up their sleeves at a silversmithing workshop in BCU’s School of Jewellery (one of the best Jewellery Schools in the world, I should add). They experienced Birmingham’s fantastic hospitality scene and received presentations from a whole host of passionate experts.
I was lucky enough to be one of the people presenting to the judges and it was my job to share our ambitions to launch Birmingham Jewellery Biennial – a new festival of jewellery for the UK. There was genuine excitement in the air throughout the visit. It sounds a bit cheesy but honestly it really felt like the Jewellery Quarter community came together to share their love of place and craft with the world. This wasn’t just about the Jewellery Quarter though, the visit was fully supported by the wider city, with a fantastic number of organisations keen to see this gem of ours (sorry, couldn’t resist) celebrated.
Have a read of the press release for the full story but here I wanted to write more about what happens next. I very much view World Craft City status as a springboard, not the finish line! Today, as part of the announcement of WCC designation, we have set out our stall and told the world of our ambitions to launch Birmingham Jewellery Biennial and for it to become ‘the UK’s jewellery festival’. A bold statement, of that I’m well aware, but without a shadow of doubt, Birmingham is the perfect place to deliver an event of this scale and ambition.
If you’re wondering what the festival might look like…imagine open studios, heritage tours, jewellery fairs, exhibitions, and a trade conference. A month long celebration of craftsmanship. The heart of the festival will of course be the Jeweller Quarter but this will be a city-wide event and I visualise taking a similar approach to Birmingham Light Festival to give as many organisations in the city the opportunity to engage, benefit and celebrate!
I look forward to sharing more on this in due course, but if you’re interested in being the first to hear more about Birmingham Jeweller Biennial – you can subscribe to the festival e-news here: https://birminghamjewellerybiennial.com/.
It’s been a pleasure to be part of this process but none of it would have happened without the hard work and dedication of Matthew Bott (Jewellery Quarter Development Trust) and Rebecca Steels (School of Jewellery). A huge thanks to them and all the other fantastic people who united to give Birmingham a time to shine!
