Stadslab Oost is organizing the first edition of Makersweekend on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, a two-day festival about craft and circular design in a former machine factory in Amsterdam Oost. Forty makers will exhibit and lead workshops, including ceramics and furniture restoration, and there is a kids' programme. The organization expects 5,000 visitors.
Amsterdam Oost has seen a growing number of studios, workshops and small makers in recent years, and the municipality reports a growing creative maker industry in the district. These makers often work alone or in small collaborations and have little stage to show their work to a wider audience. Stadslab Oost created Makersweekend to bring those makers together for two days in one location, in the hall of a former machine factory that itself symbolizes the shift from industry to craft in the neighborhood.
Visitors will walk past 40 stalls from makers across different disciplines and can join ceramics and furniture restoration workshops, with a separate kids' programme for the youngest visitors. "We wanted to create a weekend where you don't just look, but roll up your sleeves yourself," says Ilse Mulder, programme director of Stadslab Oost. "From children to seasoned collectors, everyone will find something here to take home."
"I normally work in my own studio, so spending two days among forty other makers is just as special for me as it is for the visitors," says Noa Brink, ceramicist and one of the participating makers. Tickets cost 12.50 euros, children under 12 get free admission, and tickets can be ordered via the Stadslab Oost website. If the weekend is a success, the organization is planning a second edition in the spring.