COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery
COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery, 14-17 May 2009
COLLECT presented by the Crafts Council is to re-launch in 2009 in a stunning new venue – The Duke of York’s HQ, Chelsea, London. COLLECT will take place from 14-17 May 2009 (14 May by invitation only).Launched in 2004, COLLECT is one of the Crafts Councils flagship events and over the last five years has built up an outstanding reputation as the premier fair in Europe for contemporary craft. This new space will be one of the largest contemporary art galleries in the world, presenting an amazing platform to stage this next phase of COLLECT.
“This fantastic new location will build on the huge success of COLLECT to date. It will continue to set a benchmark for quality and to challenge perceptions of craft. It will extend our audience reach further and increase the international profile of the event, creating the potential for increased sales of work.”
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
“We are delighted that the Crafts Council has decided to host COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery. We hope this enables them to bring contemporary craft to a wider audience”.
Nigel Hurst, Director & Chief Executive, Saatchi Gallery
Collect 2009 will also see the return of Art Fund Collect, a funding initiative launched in 2008 by The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, in partnership with the Crafts Council, for museums and galleries to bid to buy ambitious contemporary craft for UK public collections. For 2009, The Art Fund has increased the fund to £75,000, allowing a shortlist of curators to select significant works by artists and makers of international status.
Exhibitor details are currently being finalised so more information on exhibitors and the event will be available shortly.
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For more press information please contact Jill Read on 020 7806 2549 or email: media@craftscouncil.org.uk.
Notes to Editors
• The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary crafts.
The Crafts Council aims to position the UK as the best place in the world for making,
seeing and collecting contemporary craft.
• For further information about the Crafts Council visit
www.craftscouncil.org.uk
• The Crafts Council is supported by Arts Council England. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, we support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2008 and 2011, we will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
• The Art Fund is the UK’s leading independent art charity. It offers grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections; campaigns on behalf of museums and their visitors; and promotes the enjoyment of art. It is entirely funded from public donations and has 80,000 members. Since 1903 the charity has helped museums and galleries all over the UK secure 860,000 works of art for their collections. Recent achievements include: helping secure Anthony d’Offay’s collection, ARTIST ROOMS, for Tate and National Galleries of Scotland in February 2008 with a grant of £1million; putting together a unique funding package to ensure Dumfries House in Ayrshire and its contents were secured intact for the nation in July 2007; and running the ‘Buy a Brushstroke’ public appeal which raised over £550,000 to keep Turner’s Blue Rigi watercolour in the UK. For more information contact the Press Office on 020 7225 4888 or visit www.artfund.org
