The Calm Before the Storm
The current exhibition at the Crafts Study Centre showcases new additions to the collection since 2000 (until 14 November)
The Calm Before the Storm focuses on the period between 2000, when the CSC moved to its new home in Farnham, and 2009 when it was awarded a major Heritage Lottery grant for new acquisitions (the results of this shopping spree will go on show in 2011). Curator Jean Vacher says, ‘The idea is to give people a sense of what has happened since the move and how we’ve progressed in terms of collecting.’
It’s not a particularly linear progression as many of the new additions are given to the Centre so they’re never quite sure what’s going to come in next; recent donations have included a gift from the British Council and what Vacher describes as ‘a beautiful bowl given by Alan Caiger-Smith out of the blue’. These gifts make for a fairly eclectic collection, although the Centre uses its purchasing budget to fill in the obvious gaps. But in spite of this fairly haphazard collecting process, new acquisitions featured here include an impressive selection. So look out for textiles by Peter Collingwood and Georgina von Etzdorf, furniture by Jim Partridge and Guy Martin, ceramics by the Leachs, Edmund de Waal and Takeshi Yasuda as well as work by letter-cutter Ralph Beyer.
www.csc.ucreative.ac.uk
