Polish craft and innovation is going to take centre stage at Collect 2026 which opens in London on 25 February this year 2026. Nature connection, craft and design is taking centre stage. Biophilic Design helps people reconnect with nature. I am also a maker and artist (I sculpt, weave, sketch, etc), and for me, creating things with natural materials gives me a direct connection to nature and our planet. In this podcast we speak with the curator of this year’s Collect Corinne Julius and one of the Polish artists featured during the show. We explore the significance of biophilic design, the metamorphosis of Polish craft, and the role of materiality in art. The conversation also touches on the challenges of the craft industry in the context of climate change and the importance of tactile experiences in our lives. Can slow craft be the antidote to the disconnection and environmental crisis we face today?
Arts in Healthcare and Beyond
Should art in hospitals and elsewhere incorporate biophilia? With the arts quite starved of funding generally incorporating visual arts into healthcare and other environments is a challenge. We speak with Victoria Hume, Director of the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance to find out how the Alliance is helping broker arts into healthcare and beyond through a network of regional “champions”, building on grassroots arts programmes and building bridges to network positive creative solutions to those who need it. Her own background as a musician and arts worker is fascinating in itself, as is her work on delirium which includes composing music that address delirium.


