Under Your Feet
In April, an exciting new exhibition at the Ruthin Craft Centre will present a striking, colourful and inspiring overview of the contemporary rug from makers in the UK and Ireland. Under Your Feet: The Contemporary Rug will include work by Claire Gaudion, Ptolemy Mann, Alan Oliver, Angie Parker, Christopher Farr, Margo Selby and Helen Yardley.
Rug-making lies midway between craft, interior design, product design and textile art. Rugs have remained an under-exhibited medium in contemporary craft galleries, perhaps because of their size, but more likely due to their hard-to-categorise status and propinquity to ‘decoration’. This exhibition will be a timely reminder that underfoot rugs remain as vibrant and relevant as any other craft medium.
A rug is usually a large presence within the room, focusing the eye, comforting the feet. Depending on the rug, it might pull together an overall aesthetic or provide a significant exclamation point for an otherwise quiet interior. Some rugs are entirely made by designer-makers. Sometimes design and production are separated out. This exhibition will showcase both types of rug; but for the latter, we have chosen rugs whose ethical production methods are declared at the source.