Over 10,000 visitors to COLLECT 2011
Visitors at COLLECT 2011 Photo:Sophie Mutevelian
COLLECT, the international art fair for contemporary objects, presented by the UK’s Crafts Council, returned to the Saatchi Gallery from 6-9 May 2011. Exhibiting galleries reported strong sales and visitor figures once again exceeded 10,000.
The fair has in recent years cemented its reputation as the leading European fair for contemporary craft.This year 37 international galleries from 12 countries including the UK, Japan, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, France and Norway showed work by over 500 artists.
Several prolific national institutions purchased objects for their collections including the V&A in London and the Mint Museum, Charlotte, U.S.A. There were also significant sales to private collectors included several pieces bought for the prestigious Alice and Louis Koch Collection of finger rings.
Art Fund Collect, the Art Fund and Crafts Council’s annual £75,000 scheme to bring outstanding contemporary craft to UK public collections was this year shared by eight institutions; Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery; National Museum Wales – Amgueddfa Cymru; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Leeds Museums & Galleries; mima Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art; Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery; Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery and Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery.
“COLLECT 2011 proves the diversity and buoyancy of the international contemporary craft market. Its reputation as the premier European fair for the acquisition of museum-quality objects for both private and public collections continues to grow.” Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
This year, in addition to the exhibiting galleries, the top floor of the Saatchi Gallery featured curated displays of objects from the Crafts Council Collection, textiles from Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, a cinema screen area for craft-inspired short films and the Project Space – an area that featured installations by solo artists and collaborations.
The Project Space featured seven installations including; Katharine Morling’s ceramic tableaux Out of the House that featured over 20 life-size ceramic pieces including trees, a girl on a stool, a typewriter atop a writing desk, and a chainsaw, and Ptolemy Mann and Lubna Chowdhary’s Chromatic Landscape – six vibrant metre-long panels of textile combined with ceramic to create a wall of colour.
UK Trade & Investment funded a programme of specialist tours for international press and curators and a range of special events including partner member events, VIP collector tours, media partnerships and a programme of talks and film screenings created a lively and sociable atmosphere at the fair.
ENDS
For further press information and images, please contact Iliana Taliotis, Chris Baker or Matt Railton at Colman Getty +44 (0)20 7631 2666 / matt@colmangetty.co.uk
For further information on the Crafts Council, please contact Jill Read, Press Officer +44 (0) 20 7806 2549 / media@craftscouncil.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the 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
• 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
