Every material holds a memory.

Every object tells a story.

To celebrate 25 years of supporting British craft and design, Design-Nation presents Beneath the Surface: Material and Meaning; a powerful and poetic exhibition about how materials hold stories, memories, and emotion.

Beneath the Surface brings together selected works by 26 leading artists and makers from across the UK, showcasing a cross-section of contemporary craft in clay, glass, metal, textile, wood, and more. Each artist explores personal and shared narratives of identity, memory, migration, transformation, and resilience.

The artworks encourage us to slow down and look closer, revealing vulnerability beneath their surface and uncovering deeper stories through material, technique, and process. Rooted in lived experience and shaped by sustainable practice, these objects offer quiet yet profound reflections on the unseen forces that shape our lives.

The exhibition is an invitation to pause, reflect and connect—not just with the objects, but with the emotions, histories, and hands behind them.

Scroll down to explore our exhibiting designer-makers.