From 6 to 8 November 2026, the exhibition Material Imagination or Poetics of Dirty Hands will bring contemporary Polish craft to the OFICI Traditional Craft Fair at Cardona Castle in Spain. The exhibition is organised by the Creative Industries Institute in partnership with the Polish Institute, with the patronage of ECA member Nów. New Craft Poland.
The exhibition turns its attention to materials and the work of making. Its title, Poetics of Dirty Hands, points to a familiar part of craft practice: working directly with materials, learning how they behave and developing skills through repeated experimentation.
Bringing together contemporary Polish craft, the exhibition offers visitors a chance to discover how makers approach materials, techniques and the creative process. It places the physical work of making at the centre, from the choices made in the workshop to the finished object.
The exhibition forms part of OFICI 2026, taking place at Cardona Castle from 6 to 8 November. It runs alongside the European Crafts Alliance’s Crafted Origins exhibition, which presents craft traditions connected to particular places and the European framework for craft geographical indications.
photo: IPK, CraftingReality by Alka Murat