Preserving a Craft Legacy: The Souk UK Reaches Out to Arts Council England
We have an exciting update to share with our community! The Souk UK has officially submitted a comprehensive proposal to Arts Council England seeking guidance, partnerships, and funding support to protect, archive, and scale our unique Visual Pattern System.
As many of you know, this system was born from a close creative partnership between myself and the late, brilliant Anne Lavene. While Anne first began using a visual charting approach back in 2011, our joint partnership took off in 2021. Together, we defined the Visual Pattern System, co-creating the ten core symbols and building the digital infrastructure to transform hand-operated machine knitting from a complex, text-heavy process into an accessible visual language. It has already unlocked independent businesses and creative joy for beginners, experienced makers, and neurodivergent learners alike.
Our goal now is to safeguard this shared legacy. With the Arts Council’s backing, I hope to deeply digitise the archive, build new higher-education partnerships with university textile departments, and introduce live interactive workshops to reach even more communities.
This project is a core part of our mission at The Souk UK—providing a free-of-charge marketplace, exhibition spaces, and tailored marketing support to help independent UK and Indian textile artisans monetise their incredible talents.
Thank you all for your ongoing support as we take this next big step to keep heritage crafts skills alive and thriving.
Stay tuned for updates!
— Robert Haywood, Founder & Creative Director
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