Future Matter: Crafting Sustainable Futures

Curated by Emma (Xinyan) Gu

Private View: Saturday 12th September, 6pm – 9pm
Exhibition Open: Saturday 12th – Monday 14th September
Opening hours: Daily, 10am–5pm
Artist Talk with Dr. Sofie Booms: Saturday 12th, 4.30pm – 5.15pm
Location: Gallery 1
Free Admission

Future Matter: Crafting Sustainable Futures is a curated exhibition presented by Nest – A Lab as part of the official London Design Festival 2026 programme. Curated by Emma (Xinyan) Gu, the exhibition brings together artists, designers, makers, material innovators and researchers to explore diverse approaches to sustainable materials, design and making.

Taking the object as a connecting thread, the exhibition follows its journey across different stages, from material collection and sourcing, material development and experimentation, to product design, making, craftsmanship and everyday use. These interconnected stages offer different perspectives on sustainability, exploring how resources can be collected, reused and transformed, how new materials can be developed, how design can respond to environmental challenges, and how traditional craft knowledge can contribute to contemporary sustainable practices.

Featuring Abe Yanti, Aleksandra Tarnowska, Andrea Dritschel, Anna-Maria Stavreva, Can-Fen Wang, Junghyun Kim, Margo Misiak-Orlovic, Tom Blackmore and YouJin Seo, the exhibition encompasses circular materials, urban mining, experimental material research, speculative design, responsible production and traditional craftsmanship. Dr. Sofie Boons serves as Academic Advisor to the exhibition and also contributes a work that extends her research into material practice and sustainability.

Through home objects, wearable objects, installations, prototypes, material samples and research, Future Matter presents multiple perspectives on sustainable materials, design and making. The exhibition invites audiences to consider how choices made throughout an object’s journey can shape more responsible relationships between people, materials and the natural world.

Artist Talk with DR. Sofie Boons on Neo Gemstones

With crystal growing techniques having been around since the 19th century, man-made crystals now drive innovations in various industries. This has, however, not fully translated into the jewellery industry, where they continue to be the subject of great debate.

The lecture will provide an overview of Sofie Boons’ PhD research titled ‘Neo-gemstones: An Alchemical Jeweller’s Exploration of Lab-grown Crystals and Related Technologies, Proposing Innovations Whilst Challenging Context, Terminology, and Underlying Assumptions’.

Following a historical and contemporary review, exploring why innovations in man-made crystal materials within a jewellery context remain sparse, an investigation into the culture and context surrounding man-made crystals interrogates the differences between these crystals and their mined counterparts, with findings visualised through Critical Design. The presentation, furthermore, illustrates the creative potential of incorporating lab-grown gemstones through three case studies: using urban mined lab-grown waste gemstones; collaborating with scientists to develop and use novel crystals with unique properties, such as phosphorescence; and incorporating crystal growth technologies directly into a Neo-alchemical jeweller’s practice.

‘Neo-gemstone(s)®’ is proposed as alternative terminology for labelling novel man-made crystal materials in response to the identified need for the re-framing and re-naming of enhanced and designed crystal materials when used in a contemporary jewellery context.

About Sofie Boons

Sofie Boons is a jeweller working as Associate Professor Craft and Design at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). She recently completed a four-year Crafts Council Research Fellowship at the Centre for Print Research. For her research she has successfully achieved funding for two research residencies to Idar-Oberstein in Germany, including at the University of Applied Sciences Trier/ Idar-Oberstein, where she has been guest lecturing. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2013 she has continually exhibited her work internationally under the moniker ‘The Alchemical Jeweller’ and her artefacts are held in the collections of a range of industry leading galleries.

For more information, visit www.neo-gemstones.com.
Artist Talk registration: Link