Lost in Lace
Serena by Tamar Frank
Crafts Council and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) announce major contemporary craft exhibition; Lost in Lace at the Gas Hall, BMAG, from 29 October 2011 to 19 February 2012.
An ambitious exhibition featuring large-scale, theatrical and visually stimulating work by international artists who have been inspired by the language of lace
Held in the Gas Hall at BMAG from 29 October 2011 to 19 February 2012, Lost in Lace will explore the relationship between textiles – specifically lace – and space through site-specific installations.
The exhibition will entice visitors into magical environments where spaces become fluid and thread creates new boundaries. Visitors will be able to walk through, between, and under textile installations in the architectural spaces. Striking attention to detail and the symbolic language, patterns and techniques of lace will show visitors the radical
new approaches to textile and space being made by UK and international artists.
Featured artists showcasing their work include Lise Bjørne Linnert, Michael Brennand-Wood, Tamar Frank and Chiharu Shiota, with artists showing in the UK for the first time. Lost in Lace will see large-scale works fully take over the Gas Hall – with some works breaking out beyond the bounds of gallery space.
Lost in Lace is also the first Fifty:Fifty Programme partnership; an innovative biennial scheme in which the Crafts Council match funds up to £50,000 with a partner UK organisation. The first year of the Fifty:Fifty Programme is between Crafts Council and BMAG.
The exhibition is curated by Lesley Millar MBE, Professor of Textile Culture at University for the Creative Arts who received a Crafts Council Spark Plug Curator Award in 2009 to develop an ambitious, innovative and high quality exhibition concept. Professor Millar used the award to develop Lost in Lace.
Lost in Lace is a unique opportunity to see exciting, international work that seeks to challenge current perceptions of lace. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue containing background information and interviews with the participants, edited by Lesley Millar.
“We are thrilled to be working with BMAG on this exciting inaugural Fifty:Fifty exhibition. Lost In Lace will encourage people to think about the fabric of the spaces we live in through extraordinary textile pieces created by prolific international artists. We believe this will draw new audiences to see the sort of contemporary craft that they may have never seen before.” Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
“We look forward to working in partnership with the Crafts Council and Lesley Millar. We hope that Lost In Lace will increase public
awareness of contemporary craft, regionally and nationally, through this exciting world-class contemporary exhibition.” Rita McLean, Head of Museums & Heritage Services, BMAG
“For the last 12 years a central aspect of my research at the University for the Creative Arts has been concerned with the relationship between textiles and space. In this exhibition I have asked an international group including an architect and a scientist alongside artists, makers, designers, to move beyond their usual margins of practice. My challenge was: how to shape public and professional perception of the potentially radical relationship between the structure of lace networks and architectural space? Their responses have been to question the ways in which we move through space and the nature of boundaries and thresholds.” Lesley Millar MBE, Professor of Textile Culture at the University for the Creative Arts
Ends
For more information on Lost in Lace please contact Sarah Barns, sarah.barns@ideageneration.co.uk or Tani Burns, tani.burns@ideageneration.co.uk, tel: +44 (0)20 7749 6850
For more information on the Crafts Council please contact Jill Read, Press Officer, media@craftscouncil.org.uk, tel: 44 (0)20 7806 2549
Notes to Editors
Dates: 29 October 2011 – 19 February 2012
Price: Free
Address: Gas Hall at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Chamberlain Square
Birmingham
B3 3DH
Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday – 10am-5pm
Friday – 10.30am – 5pm
Saturday – 10am-5pm
Sunday – 12.30pm-5pm
About Crafts Council
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
o We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
o We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
o We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make
extraordinary new work.
o 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.
• 12% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 2009/10, and 18% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE
• Taking Part data update August 2010). (Taking Part is an ongoing survey being carried out by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England (ACE).
• 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 and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
• Crafts Council Craft Champions are all active supporters of contemporary craft who signed up to the Craft Matters campaign at www.craftmatters.org.uk to say that craft matters to them. Current Craft Champions are; Linda Barker, Priscilla Carluccio, Sir Terence Conran, Siobhan Davies CBE, Duke of Devonshire, Norman Foster, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Tricia Guild OBE, Sir Mark Jones, Jude Kelly OBE, Cath Kidston, Corin Mellor, Michelle Ogundehin, Grayson Perry, Jon Snow, Sheila Teague, Sandi Toksvig, Sir John Tusa and Jeanette Winterson OBE and Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE.
• Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports 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 2011 and 2015, Arts Council England will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. BMAG
About Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery is the largest regional local authority Museum Service. The central Museum and Art Gallery was founded in 1885 and its collections have been designated as Outstanding by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. In 2010 the Service attracted over a million visitors to its collections and temporary exhibitions programme. It is committed to displaying contemporary applied art and this includes one of the UK’s leading collections of contemporary metalwork.
• Lost in Lace represents Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery’s ambitions to deliver a nationally significant exhibitions programme. This exhibition has been specifically supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
About University for the Creative Arts
• The University for the Creative Arts has campuses in Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester and is one of Europe’s largest specialist Universities of art, design, architecture, media and communication.
• With around 7, 000 students studying on a wide range of well-established courses, potential graphic designers’ work alongside budding journalists and pioneering fashion designers in a highly creative environment
