Collect, the leading international fair for contemporary craft and design, presented by the Crafts Council, is celebrating its 20th year. Collect 2024 takes over the labrynthine venue of Somerset House until Sunday 3rdMarch. The 20th Edition of Collect is a veritable feast for the senses, and a unique opportunity to experience some of the world’s best contemporary craft and design through a series of beautifully curated exhibits within a historic building.
At a time when contemporary craft has never been more sought after, the fair offers collectors an opportunity to acquire new, museum-quality handcrafted artworks from some of 21st Century’s finest craft talent. Prices range from £500 to £50,000 providing an opportunity for visitors – both new and established – to acquire contemporary craft. Collect was launched in 2004 as the first international fair dedicated to contemporary craft and design, with the aim of raising the profile of exceptional contemporary craft to the collectors market on an annual basis.
Collect 2024 showcases contemporary craft and design from 400 specialist galleries, dealers and collectives. An eclectic mix is on display throughout Somerset House including ceramics, lacquer, precious metalwork, textiles, fibre, wood, paper and non-traditional materials such as resin and re-cycled materials.
Photo credit: David Parry/ PA Wire
Alongside the international galleries, Collect Open, the fair’s platform for experimental proposals and installations by individual artists and collectives, will present 14 exciting new projects by artists hailing from Canada, Portugal, and from all over the UK including Northern Ireland. Collect Open participants are selected by a separate expert advisory panel and are invited to produce work that challenges material, social, political or personal perceptions.
Isobel Dennis, Collect Fair Director says: “Reaching this milestone edition reinforces not only Collect’s pivotal position as the authority for contemporary craft and design but also strengthens London as a leading cultural destination for the craft and design sector. The fair has continuously pushed boundaries to bring the best in class of new artworks to the market allowing collectors to buy with confidence. The diverse range of galleries for this edition, representing the most exciting international artists making work today, provide yet again exceptional rich content to explore.”
Culturalee highlights include Divya Sharma, Katrin Moye, Halima Cassell MBE, Dominique Zinkpe, LEE Taehoon, Objekti and Margo Selby.
Halima Cassell MBE and her representing gallery Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections, have been announced as the deserving winners of the 2024 Brookfield Properties Craft Award created in partnership with Crafts Council.
Halima, who is recognised as one of the most distinctive and dynamic sculptural ceramicists in the UK, was awarded the prize for pushing boundaries in her 25-year practice and her significant contribution to the national story of contemporary craft. As part of the prize package, worth the equivalent of £65,000, her work entitled Mariposa Lis (2024) is being acquired by Brookfield Properties and gifted to the Crafts Council’s Collection and she will stage a solo exhibition at one of Brookfield Properties’ exhibition venues in London’s Square Mile this summer.
Designed especially for Collect 2024, British textile artist Margo Selby, represented by Cynthia Corbett Gallery, presents a large-scale hand-woven artwork, which will hang down the impressive, architecturally distinct Stamp Stair, a five-storey period staircase at Somerset House.
Divya Sharma’s textiles reflect her lived experiences and are based on narratives drawn from her journey as a migrant. Through her textile practice, Sharma transcends boundaries and geographies, creating monumental tapestries by mixing and matching, layering yarn and other elements.
LEE Taehoon’s luminous vessels created from blown, sandblasted and acid polished glass including ‘Sunset Dandelion Seeds’, caught the eye of the V&A who snapped it up for their collection.
Dominique Zinkpe’s ‘The Watchers’, a stunning wooden assemblage of intricately carved wooden statuettes placed within the structure of an old canoe, has been awarded the Loewe Foundation Craft prize. Zinkpe’s creation draws on the Yoruba belief that twins hold special significance and powers, and each figurine recalls the tradition of families creating an Ibeji doll when a twin dies in infancy to represent the soul of the deceased in physical form.
Objekti was founded in 2021 by Miriam and Benni after they discovered clay pines on a trip to Mexico. The pine is a Mexican symbol long associated with goodwill, and the duo create whimsical clay sculptures decorated with a glaze made of copper sulphate and other minerals that give a vibrant pigmentation to the pieces.
Katrin Moye’s tongue-in-cheek ceramics inspired by Italian maiolica pharmacy jars of the 1500-1600s, which reflect her experience of the menopause, a momentous event in women’s lives through the ages, but one that has been under-represented in our culture until recently.
To keep up-to-date as Collect 2024 unfolds follow @collectartfair#collect2024
Collect is at Somerset House until Sunday 3rd March, 2024
