Art Fund International was formed last month and is designed to combat what the Art Fund director David Barrie sees as the insularity of regional art collections in the UK.
Art Fund International was formed last month and is designed to combat what the Art Fund director David Barrie sees as the insularity of regional art collections in the UK.
In an unusual step, Art Fund International will require institutions bidding for money to form partnerships with exhibition spaces that already display contemporary art. The initiative is looking for quality rather than quantity and Barrie anticipates there will be no more than five partnerships across the country.
'We want to make sure that some of the wonderful art being produced abroad can be shown in the regions,' said Barrie. 'The purpose is not to fill gaps in collections. We're hoping that people will look at the emerging generation of artists.'
The idea was first mooted during the Art Fund's centenary celebrations in 2003. Barrie said that while picking out pieces from the 850,000 objects the Art Fund has helped to acquire since 1903, he realised that there was virtually no 20th-century art from outside the UK.
'There was an extraordinary insularity outside the major museums and galleries. This is still the case now, with some notable exceptions,' he said. 'Over the past 20 years, only 1 per cent of Art Fund money has gone towards acquiring overseas contemporary art and most of this was for national institutions such as the Tate. We want to encourage regional museums and galleries to look more widely.'
The initiative has been welcomed by museums and galleries, about 70 per cent of which acquire art through gifts and bequests and have little or no cash to buy anything new.
Timothy Wilson, the keeper of western art at the Ashmolean, said: 'Museums in this country have not managed to acquire enough first-rate contemporary art made outside the UK. We warmly welcome the Art Fund's initiative to help remedy this situation and we are in discussions with them about being part of this scheme.'
Jerome Sands, the director of programmes at Baltic, agreed: 'This pilot provides the exciting prospect of establishing new partnerships to retain innovative and expressive contemporary art from
artists around the world.'
Barrie was keen to emphasise the flexibility of the scheme, and was reluctant to pin down what they meant by 'contemporary' or to say what they were looking for in a partnership.
Art Fund International is open to all accredited museums and galleries in the UK outside London and Edinburgh. Institutions must register expressions of interest by 22 June 2007. Applicants who are invited must provide a formal bid by September 2007.
The money has been taken from the Art Fund's reserves and there will be no match funding required. The cash will only go to the acquisition of art. Institutions must fund their own administration and travel costs.
Aaron Davies
Art Fund International was formed last month and is designed to combat what the Art Fund director David Barrie sees as the insularity of regional art collections in the UK.
In an unusual step, Art Fund International will require institutions bidding for money to form partnerships with exhibition spaces that already display contemporary art. The initiative is looking for quality rather than quantity and Barrie anticipates there will be no more than five partnerships across the country.
'We want to make sure that some of the wonderful art being produced abroad can be shown in the regions,' said Barrie. 'The purpose is not to fill gaps in collections. We're hoping that people will look at the emerging generation of artists.'
The idea was first mooted during the Art Fund's centenary celebrations in 2003. Barrie said that while picking out pieces from the 850,000 objects the Art Fund has helped to acquire since 1903, he realised that there was virtually no 20th-century art from outside the UK.
'There was an extraordinary insularity outside the major museums and galleries. This is still the case now, with some notable exceptions,' he said. 'Over the past 20 years, only 1 per cent of Art Fund money has gone towards acquiring overseas contemporary art and most of this was for national institutions such as the Tate. We want to encourage regional museums and galleries to look more widely.'
The initiative has been welcomed by museums and galleries, about 70 per cent of which acquire art through gifts and bequests and have little or no cash to buy anything new.
Timothy Wilson, the keeper of western art at the Ashmolean, said: 'Museums in this country have not managed to acquire enough first-rate contemporary art made outside the UK. We warmly welcome the Art Fund's initiative to help remedy this situation and we are in discussions with them about being part of this scheme.'
Jerome Sands, the director of programmes at Baltic, agreed: 'This pilot provides the exciting prospect of establishing new partnerships to retain innovative and expressive contemporary art from
artists around the world.'
Barrie was keen to emphasise the flexibility of the scheme, and was reluctant to pin down what they meant by 'contemporary' or to say what they were looking for in a partnership.
Art Fund International is open to all accredited museums and galleries in the UK outside London and Edinburgh. Institutions must register expressions of interest by 22 June 2007. Applicants who are invited must provide a formal bid by September 2007.
The money has been taken from the Art Fund's reserves and there will be no match funding required. The cash will only go to the acquisition of art. Institutions must fund their own administration and travel costs.
Aaron Davies
