THREE of Korea's top crafts people are heading to the region in a cultural collaboration with their UK counterparts.

Living National Treasures (in waiting) - or Masters as they are known in their home country - visit Coniston this weekend as part of the Treasure project, a new collaboration between Korea's leading crafts and design people and their UK equivalents.

Choe Seon-Hui, a specialist in black bamboo; Shin Gyung-Kyun, specialist in pottery (in particular the venerated Moon Vase) and Lim Gae-Hwa, who is a specialist in cookery with an emphasis on preservation and presentation, are centre stage at Coniston Institute Reading Room on Sunday (August 6) in a special day of presentations and workshops, which opens at 11am with an introduction from Adam Sutherland, director of Grizedale Arts.

Korean craft masters are celebrated figures who work in ancient traditions handed down from master to master.

The treasured trio will be working alongside Manchester-based artist and maker Joe Hartley; award-winning Cumbrian furniture maker and designer, Tom Philipson, and the innovative chef Sam Buckley of Stockport restaurant Where The Light Gets In. All three UK 'masters' share the belief that through design people can create a better world, and that their products can promote education, cohesion and enterprise.

Put together by Grizedale Arts and Manchester's Castlefield Gallery - and supported by the Arts Council Korea, Arts Council England Joint Fund - it is hoped that the craft and design partnership will yield creative community start-ups and deepen cultural understanding between the two countries.

The project celebrates the extraordinarily high level of skill and understanding of materials such as bamboo and pottery found in Korea, with the aim of creating a range of products that Adam Sutherland describes as "useful, desirable and achievable."

For those who would like to be part of the Treasure Project and meet the team, unskilled makers and discerning palates are required for Sunday's day of demonstrations, talks, eating and making. Participants will contribute by helping in the development of a series of products which will become the basis of a community enterprise business.

The next phase of the Treasure project will see the UK makers and designers head for Korea later this year, with the artists, makers and designers from both countries working together to refine designs and make them affordable.

The project culminates in the launch of the social enterprise companies and with the products being sold at a number of national venues and retail outlets next year.

Booking is advisable for Sunday's open day. Contact Tracy Hodgson on 015394-41283.

For further information visit Grizedale.org.