In a few days time, the V&A's north and south courts will play host to an exhibition with a difference - visitors will be able to buy the works on show. It is the second time in the museum's history that it has allowed dealers to literally set up stall in the museum's precincts.
For four days, the V&A will effectively host a very smart trade fair, showing the best of contemporary international crafts, but crucially, allowing visitors to legitimately walk off with the objects afterwards.
The first outing, in February last year, was considered such a success - 11,000 paying visitors in a mere four days, and £1.2m worth of objects sold - that the event may well become a regular fixture.
The rationale behind Collect is simple. It is a collaboration between the V&A and the Crafts Council to raise the profile of contemporary craft-makers and encourage the public to learn to appreciate and buy their work.
For many people, the word 'craft' smacks of all those inexpert, lumpy, grey-green pots they used to find in gallery teashops on trips to the British countryside. The Crafts Council's mission is to rid them of these negative perceptions, and it has been the driving force behind the Collect exhibition.
So Collect will feature around 300 of the best international contemporary craftspeople, such as Fernando Casasempere and Sally Freshwater, and leading dealers, such as Galerie Ra and Galleri Norby. Dealers and artists are scrutinised by staff from the V&A and Crafts Council, to make sure that standards are high, and that it is not a reproduction of commercial events, such as 100% Design.
But this still doesn't detract from the fact that a museum is letting the dealers in through the front door, a situation that in the past some have compared to the money-changers setting up in the Temple. That was certainly the view of some members of the MA's ethics committee a couple of years ago, when the MA consulted the membership on the ethics of sales and valuation events.
The initial consultation document had a worried tone, with events such as the Antiques Roadshow and auctioneers' sale previews causing concern. Making the connection between objects and financial value would, some felt, detract from the historical interest or artistic merit of the objects in question.
Similar concerns were raised back in 2002 when Norman Rosenthal, the exhibitions secretary of the Royal Academy, put on the Galleries Show, a paying exhibition showcasing the work of 20 of London's dealers.
'Academy puts on trade fair, but without the price tags,' wrote Michael Glover in the Independent. Jonathan Jones, by contrast, didn't like the show much, but defended the commercial dealer as 'the neglected hero of modern art'.
Rosenthal also regards dealers and collectors as driving forces in the art market and was keen to point out that the Royal Academy does not receive public funds.
The V&A admits that it initially had concerns, and had to think carefully about the implications of hosting such an event - financially the Crafts Council bears the risk, but the V&A has to be careful not to compromise its authority.
'In the end, the V&A is about engagement with the contemporary, and the contemporary world is commercial because that's how the artists are funding their work,' explains Alun Graves, one of the museum's ceramics' experts.
With a show such as Collect there are obvious benefits. For the V&A, and other British crafts curators, it is an opportunity to see many international makers in one place, thus increasing expertise.
It is a chance to buy international work - the list of museums buying work at the previous exhibition included the V&A, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland and the National Museums and Galleries of Wales.
The public gets to see a show that would be difficult and expensive for a museum to assemble on its own - increasing interest and understanding in contemporary crafts and maybe inspiring makers of the future. And a growing, but often fragile market, is given a helping hand.
Perhaps this is why the MA's final guidelines on sales and valuation events fell short of overturning the moneychangers' tables. 'It is unacceptable to stage sales or sales previews in collaboration with dealers or auctioneers,' the guidelines state.
'It is, however, acceptable for a public museum or gallery to support living artists or makers by holding exhibitions where, incidentally, visitors have the opportunity to buy the work on display.' So a craft fair at the V&A is OK. But an Old Master sale at the National Gallery would still be a big no-no.
For four days, the V&A will effectively host a very smart trade fair, showing the best of contemporary international crafts, but crucially, allowing visitors to legitimately walk off with the objects afterwards.
The first outing, in February last year, was considered such a success - 11,000 paying visitors in a mere four days, and £1.2m worth of objects sold - that the event may well become a regular fixture.
The rationale behind Collect is simple. It is a collaboration between the V&A and the Crafts Council to raise the profile of contemporary craft-makers and encourage the public to learn to appreciate and buy their work.
For many people, the word 'craft' smacks of all those inexpert, lumpy, grey-green pots they used to find in gallery teashops on trips to the British countryside. The Crafts Council's mission is to rid them of these negative perceptions, and it has been the driving force behind the Collect exhibition.
So Collect will feature around 300 of the best international contemporary craftspeople, such as Fernando Casasempere and Sally Freshwater, and leading dealers, such as Galerie Ra and Galleri Norby. Dealers and artists are scrutinised by staff from the V&A and Crafts Council, to make sure that standards are high, and that it is not a reproduction of commercial events, such as 100% Design.
But this still doesn't detract from the fact that a museum is letting the dealers in through the front door, a situation that in the past some have compared to the money-changers setting up in the Temple. That was certainly the view of some members of the MA's ethics committee a couple of years ago, when the MA consulted the membership on the ethics of sales and valuation events.
The initial consultation document had a worried tone, with events such as the Antiques Roadshow and auctioneers' sale previews causing concern. Making the connection between objects and financial value would, some felt, detract from the historical interest or artistic merit of the objects in question.
Similar concerns were raised back in 2002 when Norman Rosenthal, the exhibitions secretary of the Royal Academy, put on the Galleries Show, a paying exhibition showcasing the work of 20 of London's dealers.
'Academy puts on trade fair, but without the price tags,' wrote Michael Glover in the Independent. Jonathan Jones, by contrast, didn't like the show much, but defended the commercial dealer as 'the neglected hero of modern art'.
Rosenthal also regards dealers and collectors as driving forces in the art market and was keen to point out that the Royal Academy does not receive public funds.
The V&A admits that it initially had concerns, and had to think carefully about the implications of hosting such an event - financially the Crafts Council bears the risk, but the V&A has to be careful not to compromise its authority.
'In the end, the V&A is about engagement with the contemporary, and the contemporary world is commercial because that's how the artists are funding their work,' explains Alun Graves, one of the museum's ceramics' experts.
With a show such as Collect there are obvious benefits. For the V&A, and other British crafts curators, it is an opportunity to see many international makers in one place, thus increasing expertise.
It is a chance to buy international work - the list of museums buying work at the previous exhibition included the V&A, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland and the National Museums and Galleries of Wales.
The public gets to see a show that would be difficult and expensive for a museum to assemble on its own - increasing interest and understanding in contemporary crafts and maybe inspiring makers of the future. And a growing, but often fragile market, is given a helping hand.
Perhaps this is why the MA's final guidelines on sales and valuation events fell short of overturning the moneychangers' tables. 'It is unacceptable to stage sales or sales previews in collaboration with dealers or auctioneers,' the guidelines state.
'It is, however, acceptable for a public museum or gallery to support living artists or makers by holding exhibitions where, incidentally, visitors have the opportunity to buy the work on display.' So a craft fair at the V&A is OK. But an Old Master sale at the National Gallery would still be a big no-no.
