Made in Sheffield: The Exhibition Celebrating Local Design
A Showcase of Local Design
The title says it all, really. Made in Sheffield was an exhibition that gathered work from designers, makers and studios based in the city and presented it under one roof. Held during Sheffield Design Week 2015, it served as both a celebration and a statement of intent — here is what this city produces, and it deserves your attention.
Walking through the exhibition, the range was immediately apparent. Industrial design sat alongside graphic work. Furniture makers exhibited next to jewellers. A ceramicist’s table was positioned near a display of digital interaction design. The curatorial decision to mix disciplines rather than separate them gave the show an energy that more rigidly organised exhibitions sometimes lack.
Familiar Names, New Discoveries
Some exhibitors were already well known in Sheffield’s creative culture. Others were showing publicly for the first time. This balance was one of the exhibition’s strengths — it functioned as both a directory of established practice and an introduction to emerging talent.
I was particularly drawn to a collection of hand-forged kitchen knives that connected directly to the city’s steelmaking tradition. The maker had trained under a traditional cutler before establishing their own practice, and the pieces carried that lineage visibly. It was a reminder that Sheffield’s manufacturing heritage is not just history — it is a living resource.
Context and Connection
Made in Sheffield sat within a programme that included the Craftworks exhibition and Open Studios, creating a week-long portrait of the city’s creative output. Where Craftworks focused on process and Open Studios on place, Made in Sheffield concentrated on the objects themselves — finished, polished and ready for the world.
The exhibition also complemented the Sheffield Pavilions project, which explored design in public space. Together, these events made a persuasive argument that Sheffield’s design community is both diverse and purposeful.
For anyone researching the city’s creative evolution, Made in Sheffield 2015 stands as a useful snapshot of where things were at a particular moment — and how much further they have come since.
