In pictures: Sparking ideas at Frieze Masters
See how your support is helping to inspire curators across the UK, as we join a group of curators on their visit to Frieze Masters art fair.
What happens when curators meet?
Ideas are sparked, inspirations shared – and their experiences help shape the places we love.
That’s why a big part of our work at Art Fund is about supporting curators and museum professionals. Because they’re the brilliant minds behind the UK’s public collections, and when they come together – to talk, work, and exchange what they’ve learned – museums and galleries benefit.
This year, we joined a group of curators on a trip to London to see why it’s so valuable to have the chance to connect.
A chance to meet
One of the ways we help people get together is by offering support towards attending key events in the art world calendar.
And one of the biggest of these is Frieze Masters.
Taking place every October in Regents’ Park, London, it’s a huge showcase of hundreds of galleries from around the world, where world-leading curators share their expertise on 20th-century and historical art and objects.
So, to help curators across the UK make the most of this important event, since 2016 we've invited a group of participants to attend a two-day programme of talks, tours and workshops built around the fair and a major exhibition at the National Gallery.
Learning from colleagues
This year’s attendees travelled from museums including the University of St Andrews, Hartlepool Art Gallery and Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, joining contemporaries from US institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art and Dallas Museum of Art.
After meeting at the National Gallery for coffee and a special introduction to the gallery’s exhibition Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, it was over to Regents’ Park for a preview of Frieze Masters and the opportunity to meet colleagues from across the museum world.
Want to make more opportunities like this a reality? We're fundraising to support the people who bring museums to life. Find out more about the campaign and how you can help.
Members of Frieze Masters’ vetting committee – experts who verify the authenticity and quality of art brought to the event – gave tours of the fair, sharing insights into the works on display.
Tours included insights from art historian Till-Holger Borchert (pictured above), a specialist in 14th and 15th-century art and Frieze vetting committee member for Old Masters and 19th-century art.
Sharing experiences
One of the highlights of the programme is always the alumni event, where this year’s curators have the chance to meet curators who’ve taken part in the programme in previous years.
It's an opportunity to find out what peers are up to, swap stories and bring ideas back to the museums and galleries they work with.
After catching up with friends old and new, it was back to the National Gallery for an evening of conversations between contemporary artists and the gallery’s curators.
Artists Dexter Dalwood, Jeremy Deller, Maggi Hambling, Hew Locke, Helen Marten, Katrina Palmer and Megan Rooney were all on hand to share their perspectives on masterpieces from the collection.
As a curator in a small museum, opportunities like this are one of a kind, and this one was so eye-opening for me
Looking to the future
By offering funding so that curators can attend events like these, we aim to help them keep learning and sharing their skills – so that they can do even more brilliant work with museums and galleries across the UK.
We're looking forward to seeing the exciting projects and exhibitions that this year's Frieze Masters attendees go on to create.
