Sales at COLLECT exceed expectations
COLLECT 2010 (14-17 May), the Crafts Council's international fair for contemporary objects enjoyed abundant sales with many galleries reporting they had “exceeded expectations”. Now in its seventh year, COLLECT returned to the Saatchi Gallery for a second year, with 11,000 visitors attending.
Established as the place to view and buy the very best in contemporary craft, a number of significant acquisitions were made by high profile national institutions including the V&A, mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), The National Museums of Scotland and the British Museum.
Japanese exhibitor Yufuku Gallery reported their best year ever with over 30 sales made. Two pieces were acquired by the British Museum: a ceramic piece by Akihiro Maeta and a celadon work by Atsushi Takagaki. Galerie Rob Koudijs from the Netherlands sold a brooch by recent graduate Alexander Blank to the National Museums of Scotland and a necklace by Gemma Draper to CODA Museum in The Netherlands.
Galleries also reported on strong sales to both international and British private collectors. Joanna Bird Pottery had an excellent year, selling four Steffen Dam pieces including “Specimen Panel” for £12,500, with three further works by the artist commissioned, whilst The Scottish Gallery sold a bracelet by Peter Chang for £22,000.
Art Fund Collect, a joint initiative established by the Crafts Council and the Art Fund offered national museums and galleries a share of £75,000 to buy works for public collections. Five institutions took a share of the £75,000 award, two of which were acquired from Katie Jones Gallery: Spin a hand-blown spiralling glass piece by Ritsue Mishima for Aberdeen Art Gallery and Untitled (Long Indigo Hanging), a hemp and cotton textile piece by Shihoko Fukumoto for the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. Art Fund Collect also acquired a Nicholas Rena duo ceramic work for Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead from Marsden Woo Gallery, and for a second consecutive year works were acquired from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon: a large-scale hammer raised Britannia silver piece by Ndidi Ekubia for The Ashmolean, Oxford and the Yufuku Gallery: an intricate lacquered lidded object by Mutsumi Suzuki for The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. Over three years, Art Fund Collect has contributed £200,000 to the acquisition of craft, with a total of 14 works purchased for public collections.
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council said: “Once again sales for COLLECT 2010 have proved that the market for contemporary craft is robust and weathering the global recession well with many exhibitors reporting their best year to date. Private buyers and public institutions were out in force acquiring work, not least through Art Fund COLLECT that enabled five British museums and galleries to acquire important pieces for their collections.“
Press Contact
For further press information about COLLECT 2010 please contact Catherine Mason or Charley Andrews at Calum Sutton PR: +44 (0)20 7183 3577 / catherine@suttonpr.com; charley@suttonpr.com
For further press information about the Crafts Council please contact Jill Read:
+44 (0)20 7806 2526 or j_read@craftscouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
• 11% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 2008/09, and 17% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE Taking Part data update August 2009).
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft 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, it supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Between 2008 and 2011, Arts Council England 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 a membership charity that helps museums and galleries buy works of art for all to enjoy through awarding grants, campaigning and fundraising. Recent highlights include the £3.3 million campaign to save the Staffordshire Hoard, a fundraising initiative that was kick-started with a £300,000 Art Fund grant. The Fund is financed by the generosity of its 80,000 members and supporters who have a passion for art and the institutions that house great collections. For more information contact the Press Office on 020 7225 4888 or visit www.artfund.org.
