Sunday 24 October 2010

Art is for Life – Not Just For Christmas

The Affordable Art Fair (AFF) at Battersea Park in London draws to a close today and it was the last chance to get your hands on some of those wonderfully affordable pieces of art from the autumn collection.

In case you have never heard of The AFF the concept is simple – make art affordable. Founded in 1999 this exhibition and art shopper’s paradise ensures you don’t need to be an art expert or a millionaire to enjoy and buy art, as no piece exceeds £3,000. After 10 years in action The AFF is now considered the leading showcase in the UK for contemporary art in this price range, having welcomed over 430,000 visitors who have bought a staggering £73 million of art.

But whilst The AFF has a host of activities and educational events, I am yet to see a workshop that addresses issues of IP in the creative industries. Unfortunately IP is commonly a neglected theme. This gap in the educational programme is largely reflective of the art industry as a whole, who often tackle issues of IP and artworks reactively at the top, and wealthy, end of the chain. Instead I am looking forward to the day when fantastic events such as The AFF reach out to developing artists and budding collectors alike on important topics such as copyright infringement; helping them to recognise the perils of infringing other works early in their artistic development. Important, as old habits die hard and IP actions can easily bankrupt a struggling young artist or collector.

I hope to see events like this grow in the future to include free IP based educational sessions for artists and newly fledged artwork collectors.

But what a great place to have started your Christmas shopping!

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