the drawing. fundraiser night. wednesday 9th 2011.

In November 2010, four students on the MA Curating course at Chelsea College of Art and Design formed The Drawing Collective. The collective were presented with the opportunity of creating an exhibition at the Wimbledon Space, in the Wimbledon College of Art. Since then the idea has grown into something that we all wish to continue long after we complete our studies.

The concept for the exhibition evolves from the idea of the four members, acting as one collector, to purchase a small drawing. This will be the first acquisition in the Drawing Collective’s collection. In order to make an informed decision, about the drawing, we have attended auctions, meetings with collectors, artists, professors, gallery managers, auctioneers, librarians, and many others involved in the field of art. During this process of selecting a drawing, which is yet to purchased, thorough documentation through photography, sketches, writings and video is carried out. As part of the research, we have also been recording conversations within the collective, which reveal our decision-making process. All of this documentation constitutes an archive, The Drawing Archive.

Throughout the entire process we have been and will be performing different functions and assuming different roles: collective, collector, artist, archivist, curator and manager. In this way we question the necessity of defining these roles.

The final exhibition at the Wimbledon space will take the form of an interactive installation.  Included will be the purchased drawing and the archive of the whole process, which will be at the disposal of the audience. The exhibition will be laid out as our workspace. By revealing the usually hidden aspects in exhibition making we are experimenting with curatorial methods. 

At the closing of the exhibition, we wish to host an event, a conversation with professionals in the field of drawing and archive and in doing so we hope to open up relevant discussions in the field. Finally, we aim to produce a substantial publication that would reflect the process we undertook.

With your help we will be a lot closer to achieving complete realization of our project. In exchange for your generosity, we can offer your name to be listed as a patron, within the exhibition space as well as the publication.

To support the project, please donate to:

Account Name: The Drawing

Branch Sort Code: 40-07-13

Account Number: 42035014

Swift: MIDLGB22

IBAN: GB96MIDL40071342035014

The Drawing Collective:
Manca Bajec, Milia Xin Bi, Michele Drascek, Emma Moore