“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

William Morris made the above statement during a lecture titled 'The Beauty of Life' delivered before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design in 1880.¹ In the lecture he outlines the necessity for honest art, 'art made by the people and for the people, a joy to the maker and the user', a type of art that will serve to make our surroundings – our homes – beautiful and functional, without unnecessary luxuries.

Reflecting on the home, it is clear that there are numerous perspectives to consider in relation to craft practices. Manipulating and personalising indoor spaces, not solely to fit an aesthetic brief, but to provide optimal conditions for making, collecting or showing contemporary craft, can create a space that is both beautiful and honest.

The Arts and Crafts Movement of the 19th Century had a huge impact on the fields of decorative arts, garden design and home interiors. Its legacy still shapes the way we manoeuvre these spaces today. Yet there are a million different ways to engage the spaces we live, leisure and work in, influenced by a plethora of different traditions, cultural backgrounds, functional needs and aesthetics. Against this backdrop The Vessel now offers an opportunity for potential guest editors to present their vision of ‘Home’ through an open call.

The next few issues of The Vessel will be focusing on three spaces integral to the contemporary crafts field: ‘Home’, ‘Garden’ and ‘Studio’. Three spaces, often connected, that allow for a thorough investigation into the ways crafts and making permeate our daily lives.

Norwegian Crafts welcomes proposals from potential guest editors for The Vessel that align with the themes discussed above or that explore entirely different aspects of ‘Home’.

Application Guidelines

Your application should include:

1. Personal information: Name, profession, and a short bio/CV (max 1 page).
   
2. Letter of motivation: Tell us why you are applying for the role of guest editor, highlighting your interest in the theme of Home.
   
3. A Proposal, featuring:

• Thematic Framework: Outline your vision for the issue and how you will explore the theme of ‘Home’.
• Potential Contributors: List artists, writers, or other contributors you are thinking of involving.
• Content Types: Specify the types of content you would like to include in the issue (e.g., interviews, essays, articles, short films, sound pieces, visual essays/photo series).
• Focus on Norwegian crafts: Describe how you will highlight the Norwegian/Norway-based contemporary crafts field.
  
  

What does being a guest editor for The Vessel entail?

• Narrowing the scope of the overall theme of the issue
• Writing an editorial introduction
• Deciding on the contents of the issue, and follow up commissions. Editors will decide on the type of content featured (articles, essays, interviews, audio, video, visual content etc.), and follow up with contributors. Budget constraints apply.
• Oversee the production of the content. Give feedback to writers/content producers and edit the texts.
• Work alongside Norwegian Crafts’ team on finalising the issue for online publication.
• Ensure accuracy: editors should be committed to ensuring due accuracy in all outputs. Make reasonable efforts to ensure that facts are accurate and presented in context. Where opinion is used, it should be made obvious to the reader it is opinion and whose opinion it is. If facts are being used, it should be made obvious what the source is.
  

All applications should be in English and delivered as one PDF file (max. 6 pages) to post@norwegiancrafts.no , with the subject field 'Open call Home + Your name'.

The tentative publishing time for The Vessel 10 ‘Home’ is in October/November 2025. All applicants will receive feedback on their application by 15 May 2025.

The Vessel is an English-language publication, and candidates must be comfortable writing and editing in English. Candidates of any nationality are welcome, and no specific educational or professional qualifications are required although potential candidates should have an interest in contemporary crafts and material culture.

The selected candidate will work alongside the Norwegian Crafts team and The Vessel’s project manager, Tonje Kjellevold. Guest editors and all contributing writers/photographers will receive honorariums for their work.

If you have any questions about the open call, please contact The Vessel’s project manager, Tonje Kjellevold at tk@norwegiancrafts.no.

About The Vessel
The Vessel is an online magazine about crafts and material culture established in 2021. The Vessel explores the world through a craft lens, showcasing making practices, visual expressions, and material knowledges from a multitude of perspectives. Collaborating with external editors, artists, and writers, The Vessel is published by Norwegian Crafts, a non-profit organisation founded by the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (Norske Kunsthåndverkere) in 2012. Norwegian Crafts' principal aim is to strengthen the position of contemporary crafts from Norway internationally.