Andrew Nairne arrived as the new director of Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge with a varied career in the arts, most recently as the architect of Arts Council England’s (ACE) 10-year strategy, Achieving Great Art for Everyone.
He has also worked with many of the major names in contemporary art in his 25 years as a curator and gallery director and was the head of Modern Art Oxford before his three-year stint at the arts council.
So why has he joined Kettle’s Yard, a gallery that is smaller than Modern Art Oxford in terms of annual visitors, physical size and arts council funding?
“There are two reasons. One is that Modern Art Oxford did not have a collection. It’s exciting to have that, as a collection gives you all sorts of opportunities,” says Nairne, who has just put together an exhibition of paintings by Alfred Wallis, who is represented in the collection.
“Secondly, Modern Art Oxford has lots of connections with Oxford University, but Kettle’s Yard is actually part of Cambridge University.”
Kettle’s Yard is also a place on the up. It is one of the eight museums that formed the University of Cambridge’s successful bid to become one of the arts council’s 16 major partner museums, which was announced in January and means they will receive Renaissance funding. The gallery is also one of the 695 national portfolio organisations that receive regular arts council funding.
And Nairne arrived at Kettle’s Yard at a time when the previous director, Michael Harrison, had secured the £5m that was needed to create a new wing. This is being built alongside the galleries and will provide two new education spaces, an access gallery and enhanced storage.
A special place
Nairne started his career as an assistant curator at Kettle’s Yard in the mid-1980s and the venue is seen by many as a very special place. It was the home of former Tate curator Jim Ede and his wife Helen, who lived there from 1958 to 1973.
The house displays his collection of art, which is mostly from the first half of the 20th century and includes paintings by Ben Nicholson, Joan Miró, and many others. There are also sculptures by Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
The house has changed little since the Edes left and the works of art still sit alongside natural objects such as stones and plants, creating unusual but intriguing displays.
Figures such as Tate director Nicholas Serota and former Fitzwilliam Museum director Duncan Robinson have testified to the importance of the house and the warmth and generosity with which Jim Ede received visitors.
Despite the fact that the Edes are no longer alive and welcoming people into their home, the house still retains a special feel. One of the things Nairne wants to do is to tell more of the story of the development of Kettle’s Yard and Jim Ede himself, whom he describes as a “remarkable person”.
But Nairne’s ambitions for the venue extend far beyond this. Although work on the extension has only just started, he is already thinking about the next capital project, with the aim of improving the galleries, tidying up the site and making it a more unified experience for visitors. The trick will be to achieve this without spoiling the charm of the place.
“Whereas some had thought that this capital project is it for now, my view is that it is a major staging post,” Nairne says, although he is at pains to stress that it is early days for his plans.
“It is fair to say that when the extension opens, it will be beautiful, but it will expose the galleries as needing serious love and attention, and, in my view, remodelling and rethinking a bit. If we want more audiences and we want to use the space better, why would we not look across the whole site to make it work better for visitors?”
It’s no surprise that Nairne is already thinking about the next development. He is full of energy, and ideas tumble out of him. (His CV is so long that it’s divided into two and he’s known for his poetic Tweets – “Didcot power station’s chimneys are smoking sweetly. In the foreground rusted tracks. Everything can be seen, so much less is understood,” is a recent example.)
Nairne’s career has been divided between working in galleries and stints at the arts councils in Scotland and England.
“I really care about the arts council, I think its history is extraordinary,” Nairne says. “The original reason it was set up in 1946 was idealistic and ambitious in a way that I really admire, because that is sort of who I am – I’m quite idealistic and ambitious for the places that I work in.”
Despite his stints at the arts council, the majority of Nairne’s career has been spent working in galleries and developing exhibitions. He has been involved in the curation of more than 100 shows, working with artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Tony Cragg, among many others.
“I’m interested in strategy and how things connect up and how people can work together but I also love curating exhibitions and working with others to create exhibitions,” he says.
Despite his extensive involvement with artists, he is keen to emphasise that it’s audiences that are important to him.
“I’m passionate about artists but only to the extent that they connect with audiences. It is a lovely thing to go and visit an artist in their studio but it is even more lovely to see people streaming into your gallery or see an artist doing something in a community that alters how people see the world.”
One of his aims is to make Kettle’s Yard a more open and outward-looking organisation. He wants to create more partnerships, internationally and regionally, but he also wants it to have better contact with the communities living in the two deprived wards that are close to the gallery.
“The crucial point is that it’s not about money, it’s about relationships and there are relationships for Kettle’s Yard to build that perhaps we have not put enough emphasis on in the past. It is about people’s experiences and how art, culture and museums and galleries and what happens in them can connect with people and what happens in their lives.”
Nairne has spent most of his career based outside London; in Dundee, Birmingham, Oxford and now Cambridge. It’s an interesting contrast with his brother, Sandy, the director of National Portrait Gallery, who has spent most of his career in the capital.
But despite Kettle’s Yard being outside a major metropolitan city, Andrew Nairne is nothing if not ambitious for the gallery.
“The question is can we strengthen the organisation, operationally, physically and in relation to other institutions within the university, in such a way that we can be a really compelling institution and absolutely be part of a global conversation about contemporary art. To some degree Kettle’s Yard has been, but it has struggled in the past; partly through lack of funding, partly through the way it is set up.”
Nairne is hoping to change this and he already has lots of ideas about how he is going to achieve his aims.
Andrew Nairne became the director of Kettle’s Yard in November 2011 when Michael Harrison retired after nearly 20 years in the job.
Nairne began his working life at Kettel’s Yard in 1984. Since then he has been deputy director of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham (1985-86), exhibitions director at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (1986-93), director of visual arts with the Scottish Arts Council (1993-97), and director of Dundee Contemporary Arts (1997-2001).
He was the director of Modern Art Oxford from 2001 until 2008, before joining Arts Council England as its executive director, arts. In this role he led the development of its 10-year strategy, Achieving Great Art for Everyone.
Nairne has been involved in curating more than 100 exhibitions and has worked with artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Tony Cragg, Marina Abramovic and Tacita Dean, among many others.
Kettle’s Yard was the home of Jim Ede, a former Tate curator, and his wife, Helen, from 1958 until 1973. It houses his collection of art, which includes works by Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, Joan Miró, Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and many others. In 1966 the Edes gave the house and its contents to the University of Cambridge.
In 1970, three years before the Edes retired to Edinburgh, the house was extended and an exhibition gallery added. A further extension was added in 1991. The gallery holds temporary exhibitions as well as a programme of education, events and concerts.
Kettle’s Yard and seven other University of Cambridge museums recently secured Renaissance funding (£4.4m in total over three years) from the arts council as a consortium that made up one of the 16 major museum partners.
The gallery also receives regular funding from the arts council as national portfolio organisation (£149,000 in 2012-13 rising to £155,000 in 2014-15). Kettle’s Yard has 14 staff (FTE) and attracted 76,000 visitors in 2010-11.
He has also worked with many of the major names in contemporary art in his 25 years as a curator and gallery director and was the head of Modern Art Oxford before his three-year stint at the arts council.
So why has he joined Kettle’s Yard, a gallery that is smaller than Modern Art Oxford in terms of annual visitors, physical size and arts council funding?
“There are two reasons. One is that Modern Art Oxford did not have a collection. It’s exciting to have that, as a collection gives you all sorts of opportunities,” says Nairne, who has just put together an exhibition of paintings by Alfred Wallis, who is represented in the collection.
“Secondly, Modern Art Oxford has lots of connections with Oxford University, but Kettle’s Yard is actually part of Cambridge University.”
Kettle’s Yard is also a place on the up. It is one of the eight museums that formed the University of Cambridge’s successful bid to become one of the arts council’s 16 major partner museums, which was announced in January and means they will receive Renaissance funding. The gallery is also one of the 695 national portfolio organisations that receive regular arts council funding.
And Nairne arrived at Kettle’s Yard at a time when the previous director, Michael Harrison, had secured the £5m that was needed to create a new wing. This is being built alongside the galleries and will provide two new education spaces, an access gallery and enhanced storage.
A special place
Nairne started his career as an assistant curator at Kettle’s Yard in the mid-1980s and the venue is seen by many as a very special place. It was the home of former Tate curator Jim Ede and his wife Helen, who lived there from 1958 to 1973.
The house displays his collection of art, which is mostly from the first half of the 20th century and includes paintings by Ben Nicholson, Joan Miró, and many others. There are also sculptures by Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
The house has changed little since the Edes left and the works of art still sit alongside natural objects such as stones and plants, creating unusual but intriguing displays.
Figures such as Tate director Nicholas Serota and former Fitzwilliam Museum director Duncan Robinson have testified to the importance of the house and the warmth and generosity with which Jim Ede received visitors.
Despite the fact that the Edes are no longer alive and welcoming people into their home, the house still retains a special feel. One of the things Nairne wants to do is to tell more of the story of the development of Kettle’s Yard and Jim Ede himself, whom he describes as a “remarkable person”.
But Nairne’s ambitions for the venue extend far beyond this. Although work on the extension has only just started, he is already thinking about the next capital project, with the aim of improving the galleries, tidying up the site and making it a more unified experience for visitors. The trick will be to achieve this without spoiling the charm of the place.
“Whereas some had thought that this capital project is it for now, my view is that it is a major staging post,” Nairne says, although he is at pains to stress that it is early days for his plans.
“It is fair to say that when the extension opens, it will be beautiful, but it will expose the galleries as needing serious love and attention, and, in my view, remodelling and rethinking a bit. If we want more audiences and we want to use the space better, why would we not look across the whole site to make it work better for visitors?”
It’s no surprise that Nairne is already thinking about the next development. He is full of energy, and ideas tumble out of him. (His CV is so long that it’s divided into two and he’s known for his poetic Tweets – “Didcot power station’s chimneys are smoking sweetly. In the foreground rusted tracks. Everything can be seen, so much less is understood,” is a recent example.)
Nairne’s career has been divided between working in galleries and stints at the arts councils in Scotland and England.
“I really care about the arts council, I think its history is extraordinary,” Nairne says. “The original reason it was set up in 1946 was idealistic and ambitious in a way that I really admire, because that is sort of who I am – I’m quite idealistic and ambitious for the places that I work in.”
Despite his stints at the arts council, the majority of Nairne’s career has been spent working in galleries and developing exhibitions. He has been involved in the curation of more than 100 shows, working with artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Tony Cragg, among many others.
“I’m interested in strategy and how things connect up and how people can work together but I also love curating exhibitions and working with others to create exhibitions,” he says.
Despite his extensive involvement with artists, he is keen to emphasise that it’s audiences that are important to him.
“I’m passionate about artists but only to the extent that they connect with audiences. It is a lovely thing to go and visit an artist in their studio but it is even more lovely to see people streaming into your gallery or see an artist doing something in a community that alters how people see the world.”
One of his aims is to make Kettle’s Yard a more open and outward-looking organisation. He wants to create more partnerships, internationally and regionally, but he also wants it to have better contact with the communities living in the two deprived wards that are close to the gallery.
“The crucial point is that it’s not about money, it’s about relationships and there are relationships for Kettle’s Yard to build that perhaps we have not put enough emphasis on in the past. It is about people’s experiences and how art, culture and museums and galleries and what happens in them can connect with people and what happens in their lives.”
Nairne has spent most of his career based outside London; in Dundee, Birmingham, Oxford and now Cambridge. It’s an interesting contrast with his brother, Sandy, the director of National Portrait Gallery, who has spent most of his career in the capital.
But despite Kettle’s Yard being outside a major metropolitan city, Andrew Nairne is nothing if not ambitious for the gallery.
“The question is can we strengthen the organisation, operationally, physically and in relation to other institutions within the university, in such a way that we can be a really compelling institution and absolutely be part of a global conversation about contemporary art. To some degree Kettle’s Yard has been, but it has struggled in the past; partly through lack of funding, partly through the way it is set up.”
Nairne is hoping to change this and he already has lots of ideas about how he is going to achieve his aims.
Andrew Nairne at a a glance
Andrew Nairne became the director of Kettle’s Yard in November 2011 when Michael Harrison retired after nearly 20 years in the job.
Nairne began his working life at Kettel’s Yard in 1984. Since then he has been deputy director of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham (1985-86), exhibitions director at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (1986-93), director of visual arts with the Scottish Arts Council (1993-97), and director of Dundee Contemporary Arts (1997-2001).
He was the director of Modern Art Oxford from 2001 until 2008, before joining Arts Council England as its executive director, arts. In this role he led the development of its 10-year strategy, Achieving Great Art for Everyone.
Nairne has been involved in curating more than 100 exhibitions and has worked with artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Tony Cragg, Marina Abramovic and Tacita Dean, among many others.
Kettle’s Yard at a glance
Kettle’s Yard was the home of Jim Ede, a former Tate curator, and his wife, Helen, from 1958 until 1973. It houses his collection of art, which includes works by Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, Joan Miró, Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and many others. In 1966 the Edes gave the house and its contents to the University of Cambridge.
In 1970, three years before the Edes retired to Edinburgh, the house was extended and an exhibition gallery added. A further extension was added in 1991. The gallery holds temporary exhibitions as well as a programme of education, events and concerts.
Kettle’s Yard and seven other University of Cambridge museums recently secured Renaissance funding (£4.4m in total over three years) from the arts council as a consortium that made up one of the 16 major museum partners.
The gallery also receives regular funding from the arts council as national portfolio organisation (£149,000 in 2012-13 rising to £155,000 in 2014-15). Kettle’s Yard has 14 staff (FTE) and attracted 76,000 visitors in 2010-11.