Art Fund International aims to enrich the contemporary holdings of UK regional collections, many of which have in the past focussed on the work of British artists.
This scheme has its origins in The Art Fund’s centenary exhibition and conference in 2003. This identified a historic failure of UK museums in the twentieth century to acquire the then-contemporary art being produced by non-British artists.
This situation continues today. In the last twenty years, Art Fund grants offered towards the acquisition of contemporary artworks amounted to only 17% of our total grants, and of the contemporary grants made almost 83% went towards works by British artists.
Following the centenary conference, we held a series of consultations in 2005 and 2006 to see how we could learn the lessons of the twentieth century and ensure these failings didn’t continue into the twenty-first.
Two key factors emerged. First, there is a real desire to combine the
expertise and intelligence of the temporary exhibition spaces with the
collecting knowledge of the museums and galleries. Second, there is an acute
need for funding.
Art Fund
International therefore asked museums and galleries and other
contemporary organisations to work together to build the collections of the
future, allocating significant funds to enable them to build distinctive
collections of international contemporary art over a five-year period. By doing
this, we ensure that great international art of our own time is available to
audiences across the country, and not confined to the capital cities.
The scheme was launched at the British Museum on 3 April, where it received an enthusiastic reception:
º Sir Nicolas Serota, Director, Tate, commented, “The Art Fund’s significant new initiative promises to have an immense impact in Britain.”
º John Leighton, Director, National Galleries of Scotland called the scheme, “bold and innovative.”
º Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum said “It is great news that the Fund will now be helping museums and galleries all around the country to buy and to show great things being made beyond Europe and North America... Hurrah for The Art Fund.”
Art Fund Board set up a committee to run the scheme, consisting of five existing members of The Art Fund’s Board: Professor Lord Renfrew (Chair); Professor Michael Craig Martin; Dr David Landau; Dr Deborah Swallow and Felicity Waley Cohen. In addition there are four external members: Catherine Lampert; James Lingwood; Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Ralph Rugoff.
The applications were considered over the course of the summer and autumn of 2007, with the announcement of which partnerships were to receive a share of the £5million award taking place in the Serpentine Pavilion on 5th November 2007.
To read more about the announcement and the details of the partnerships and
their projects please read the full press release.
