The Kitchen table collective: dinner service

The Kitchen Table Collective is back! Leading on from the first stage of our Kitchen Table Collective project, during which 30 participants made hundreds of ceramic objects that we might find in the kitchen, we’re taking inspiration from Aliyah Hussain’s “Dinner Service” artwork for our latest ceramics-making project.

Bootle and Crosby residents are invited to join Aliyah and the At the Library team to create a series of playful and humorous ceramics exploring our relationship between food and the objects we eat from. From September, all the way through to December, we will be playing, making and experimenting with clay in Crosby Library’s music room, with the aim of making a full Dinner Service for communal use in Sefton libraries for future feasts, lunches and dinners together. 

This series of workshops is perfect for everyone, whether you’ve never touched clay in your life, or you’re skilled in the craft of clay making! Our team will be on hand to share skills and guide you through each and every step. You’ll learn different handbuilding techniques like slab building, pinching and coiling, as well as how to decorate and create patterns with clay using press stamps and dyed clay. 

Booking is essential for this project.

Past Events

Sep 2021 Crosby Library

friday 24th september from 10.30 am – 12.30 pm  OR 1:00pm  – 3:00 pm

Meeting together for the first time, in this session Aliyah will chat about her project “Dinner Service” and we will think about the concept of eating together, big buffets and how we serve and arrange food. We will introduce you to some clay hand building technique basics: pinching, coils, slabs and ways to experiment and create with clay, and will collaboratively  make a set of playful clay sculptures for serving food. This session is all about coming along and having a go, learning something new and thinking about different ways to serve food. 

You are welcome to book for either the morning or afternoon session, or for both. Refreshments provided, but please bring your own lunch if you’re staying for the whole day.

If you would like to, you are welcome to bring along your favourite plate, bowl or serving item to the session and make a press mould with it. This means that any pieces for our Dinner Service will be a similar shape and depth to your favourite item to eat from!

want to have a go? 

As always, At the Library workshops are free but booking is required so we can manage numbers. If you would like to take part, please email hello@atthelibrary.co.uk or message/text/WhatsApp: 07751240427. There are limited spaces, so let us know soon. 

Oct 2021 Crosby Library

You’re invited to join us for the next session in our ceramics-making project with Aliyah Hussain.

We will meet back in the library for a still life drawing and photography session from a fantastical buffet set-up, using the sculptures made in the previous session. Using a range of techniques — line drawing, collage, layering and photography — we will create images to inform designs and make carved clay stamps. The stamps will be one of several techniques we will use to decorate our ceramic objects.

As with our Introduction session, you are welcome to bring along your favourite plate, bowl or serving item to the session and make a press mould with it. 

If you couldn’t make the introduction session, not to worry, you can still attend this session – all beginners are welcome!

A light vegetarian buffet lunch will be provided during the session.

As always, this workshops is free but booking is required so we can manage numbers. If you would like to take part, please email hello@atthelibrary.co.uk, or message/text/WhatsApp: 07751240427. There are limited spaces, so please let us know soon.