Collect Art Fair

This international art fair for contemporary craft and design celebrates the notion of craftsmanship across a variety of mediums.

Contemporary craft and its relevance and significance within twenty-first-century life is a key component of our business; we champion traditional craftsmanship values alongside modern-day technology and techniques to celebrate the artistry of one, whilst evolving to embrace the benefits of the other.

The only fair dedicated to contemporary craft, Collect brings together some of the best designs created by craftspeople in the last five years. Usually hosted at Somerset House in London, but this year being as it is, sees the Crafts Council collaborating with art platform artsy.net to take the event online.

This year’s virtual event runs until 24 March 2021 presenting work by more than 400 artists from 35 different countries including the UK, Thailand, Japan and the USA, and we’ve brought together some of our favourites from the fair…

Waterfall bench by Angus Ross

Angus Ross transforms local trees into exquisite furniture. He is best known as a designer and maker of sculptural one-off furniture pieces with a sense of movement and flow. He began steam-bending to use small section timber from his sustainably managed bluebell wood.

The Waterfall Bench captures a delicate waterfall of water as seen in the burns (streams) around his home and workshop. Fluid, flowing lines are a characteristic of many of Angus’s designs and in this new one-off piece the steam-bent curves of ash are complimented with walnut joint details.

Sahara Stool by Chris Rune

Chris Ruhe is an emerging dutch designer completely dedicated to cabinetry.

In creating a stool that can be both portable and transparent, he found a way to bend circles of birch wood and assemble a wave-like structure.

The stool became an ergonomic achievement; activating all body muscles by the bounce of the material. In addition, the design can easily be adjusted to the body length of the owner, creating the ideal height by adding extra rings to the construction.

 

A Shattered Past by Hannah Gibson

Passionate about sustainability and recycling, Hannah Gibson uses only recycled glass and found objects to capture the nostalgic imagery of childhood, exposing hidden narratives, through cast sculptural glass.

This unique sculpture featured in Collect is made from recycled windscreen glass and presented in response to the pandemic and what unravelled through the world as a consequence; it is a personal reaction to 2020 and the how the simultaneous stillness and chaos of the last few months has affected her individually.

 

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Restless by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley 

With the intention of making “work with a strong but quiet presence in the landscape”, Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley‘s partnership has worked successfully on many architectural projects and environmental commissions.

Their studio furniture, much of which is carved from blocks of green oak, often scorched and polished to a lustrous black finish, is in public collections across the world.

 

Wood by Nic Webb

Nic Webb uses a combination of traditional skills and less conventional, experimental processes to explore the values and narratives of contemporary craft.

He aims to create work that clearly communicates the relevance and beauty of handmade objects and the importance of our relationship with the materials of the natural world.

 

 

 

Start a conversation

There were 12 public and VIP talks during the Fair and these are all available to watch on YouTube.

Listen to discussions on the boundaries of craft: its relationship with technology, new materials, art, legacy, and contemporary culture, the impact of lockdowns on craft, the meaning of craft today, the importance of contemporary craft and how it can enrich the interiors we live in and the stunning works inspired by wood along with how to start collecting and the enjoyment of living with exceptional contemporary craft.