Blog by Sally Malkin
In today’s fast-paced world, where few have the time to pause and reflect, it was a true privilege to gather a small group of local artists and makers to explore and experiment with bamboo. There’s something deeply grounding about working with your hands—especially with a material as humble and unpredictable as bamboo. It can split without warning and resist shaping if you rush, demanding patience and presence. Through this experience, we all learned the value of slowing down and truly listening to the material.
Over the past few months, our passionate group, have joined us at Brilliant Bamboo on a journey of hands-on discovery. Guided by masterclasses from a diverse range of industry professionals in art, product design, and engineering, participants have gained new insights and skills. In our latest sessions, working alongside a talented furniture maker, the group was commissioned to create planters for the baby bamboo plants that just arrived on site.
Watching the group at work, it became clear that the magic wasn’t just in the finished objects—it was in the process. The quiet concentration. The shared encouragement. The way a group of strangers transformed into a community of bamboo makers. Together, they embraced bamboo’s quirks—its cracks, its curves, its resistance—and came to understand the beauty and tradition embedded in this ancient material.
At Brilliant Bamboo, we’re passionate about reuse and recycle, and about shifting perspectives. This project was about more than art and building—it was about encouraging communities to think differently about the materials we use and how our choices impact the environment.
For me, this journey has been more than creative planning. It’s been a deeply personal experience of discovery, challenge, and appreciation. Watching our makers cut, shape, and design with bamboo, I began to understand why so many cultures have trusted this material for both its function and its artistry—for centuries.
Images by the team at sessions or by photography Nat Willatt.
