Norwegian Crafts is delighted to present the ninth issue of The Vessel titled Make Me See, edited by Åsa Dybwad Norman and Ben Lignel in collaboration with student editors Sofie Alm Nordsveen, Carla Rotenberg, and Iliana Papadimitriou.

The starting point for Make Me See was a series of workshops, supported by the Nordic Culture Fund and the Nordic Culture Point, and hosted by Åsa Dybwad Norman and Ben Lignel at three of the most important art academies for contemporary crafts in the Nordic region: the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in Norway, HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Finland. The workshop gathered 27 Nordic and international craft and design students to discuss and observe making practices, with the aim of turning their observations into short-form texts for The Vessel. The 12 texts selected for this issue are written by current students as well as alumni from the three schools. In addition, craft experts Evelina Hedin — artist, curator, international coordinator at the Swedish Crafts Centre, and former director of Gustavsberg Konsthall, and Sara Clugage — artist and Editor-in-Chief of Dilettante Army, an online magazine for visual culture and critical theory — have provided essays for the issue focusing on skilled and unskilled labour, authorship, perspective, and bodily observation.

Craft artist and tattooist Fanny Schwarz, herself an alumna of HDK-Valand, has created a set of unique illustrations for the issue, highlighting the tools and gestures occurring in each observation.

The observations featured in this issue of The Vessel highlight the fact that craft is ubiquitous. Craft skills are everywhere, surrounding us all the time, oftentimes without our cognisance. From fashioning hand-knitted sweaters to knife making, kite building, and ornamental fruit carving — the creation or restoration of objects requires dexterity, muscle memory, and material knowledge, paired with careful observation. The world as we know it is shaped by the presence of craft skills, maintained by individuals and communities, and passed from one person to the next through demonstration and observation.

We wish to thank the editors Åsa Dybwad Norman and Ben Lignel, Sofie Alm Nordsveen, Carla Rotenberg, and Iliana Papadimitriou, artist Fanny Schwarz, and all contributing writers: Anna-Maria Saar, Daniel Schiechl, Hana Rehorčíková, Iliana Papadimitriou, Jenny Hamrell, Maike Panz, Martine Aadne Gulliksen, Samira Khoshbakht, Sara Marie Hødnebø, Sofie Alm Nordsveen, Sorrell Van Allen, Zoë Robertson, Evelina Hedin, and Sara Clugage.

The Vessel is published by Norwegian Crafts and would not be possible without the funding and support from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are also grateful for the Nordic Culture Fund and the Nordic Culture Point, which has provided support for the workshop series that fuelled the creation of the texts in this issue.

We hope you enjoy The Vessel 9 Make Me See!