What Do We Carry Forward? Panel Discussion | Heritage Hands Festival

What happens when specialist knowledge is no longer passed on?

Join Heritage Hands Festival: Sandgate for What Do We Carry Forward?, a free panel discussion exploring the skills and knowledge we inherit, how they are learned and passed between generations, and what it takes to ensure they continue into the future.

Across traditional crafts and specialist trades, much of what matters isn't written down. It lives in hands, tools, techniques, stories and experience developed over years, sometimes generations.

Moderated by historian Robert Allen, the discussion brings together Dr Renata Buziak, photo-media artist, researcher and educator; Michael Blazek, specialist neon maker with more than three decades of experience; and Meade and Mason Murphy of Murphy's Antiques and Restorations, representing two generations of traditional furniture restoration.

Together, they'll explore the challenges of succession, the value of learning by doing, what is at risk of being lost and how meaningful pathways can be created for the next generation.

It's a conversation about more than preserving the past. It's about deciding what we carry forward – and how.

Presented as part of the inaugural Heritage Hands Festival: Sandgate.

Free admission. Bookings recommended to secure your place. Limited capacity.