Devon’s own Collection exhibition: little sister of London's COLLECT

To coincide with Collect, London’s popular annual fair for contemporary craft, The Devon Guild of Craftsmen is launching its own South West version of the event.

Collection, brings together the most collectable contemporary makers in the region. The show includes Rachael Woodman (glass), Tim Andrews and Peter Randall-Page whose huge granite Seed at The Eden Project brought him international renown. Chosen for being the ‘best in the West’, these makers’ exceptional talent and passion for crafts should inspire everyone who sees this show. In Devon, ‘Collection’ aims to encourage and develop a regional collectors’ market for contemporary crafts.

All the hand-made designer objects in Collection are for sale and their unique status of being hand-crafted and even functional (Matthew Burt’s Vase Cabinet) will present questions about how buyers evaluate art and what makes an object collectable or ‘special’ to the viewer. Eric Knowles (of Bonhams, The Antiques Roadshow and evaluator of fine and decorative arts) will open the exhibition on Friday, May 7, after giving an illustrated talk about his colourful career as an expert on collectable objects.

The Devon Guild of Craftsmen has set up gallery activities which ask visitors to present and display their own imaginary – or real collections.

The curator told Arts+Culture: “Collectors can be individuals, institutions, galleries or families. Having something beautiful to keep or display can be a private or public act – from buying for the home to acquiring work for a gallery or museum. With this fantastic work right on our doorstep, we want to encourage people to create and buy work from the South West which will be prized and loved in years to come.”

Exhibitors: Tim Andrews, Svend Bayer, Dail Behennah, Matthew Burt, Jilly Edwards, Malcolm Martin & Gaynor Dowling, Eleanor Glover, Matthew Harris, Peter Randall-Page, Syann van Niftrik, and Rachael Woodman.

Collection at the Devon Guild of Craftsemen runs from Saturday, May 8 – Sunday, June 20

(Image: Rachael Woodman.)