4 June – 26 July 2010
The 10th annual Free Range celebrates the best of young British art and design and looks forward to the future Since its inception 10 years ago, Free Range has become the number one platform and launchpad for graduates to showcase their work both to the public and creative industry.
Attracting visitors numbers to rival the biggest art events in the capital, the show presents the work of thousands graduates from art and design universities around the UK, in several distinct categories over 8 weeks.
Always fresh and exciting, Free Range embraces all the creative disciplines, from art, graphics & design, to photography, architecture, interiors (including product and furniture design) and textiles. This year’s innovations include a separate fashion strand and an expanded interiors strand, while educational charity D&AD are bringing New Blood, their creative talent show, to Free Range for the first time.
The overarching ethos of Free Range is accessibility, and it is this ethos, and a welcoming, all-embracing approach that singles it out from other art and design fairs and is key to the show’s extraordinary success and longevity.
“Free Range provides new graduates with their first real opportunity to engage with the general public, future client base, and potential employers, as well as making connections with each other, sparking relationships that can take them on new creative journeys.
We’re still in touch with many who came through Free Range and are now wellestablished in their chosen fields”, says Free Range Director Tamsin O’Hanlon.
O’Hanlon has been at the heart of the project from the beginning, founding Free Range as part of her role to promote The Old Truman Brewery. Free Range was originally conceived over 10 years ago as a regeneration project for The Old Truman Brewery, alongside 93 Feet East and Fashion East, a hugely successful millennium strategy that has brought people and businesses flocking into the area and established it as a creative hub that consistently sets the
trend agenda.
Since then Free Range has taken on a life of its own and become a key fixture in the calendar for the creative industry, as well as for an art-loving public who have free entry and direct access to exhibitors, adding to the uniquely vibrant experience that the show offers during its 2 month residency.
The Free Range format has been so successful that it is now being studied internationally as a potential model to be rolled out or emulated by arts and design communities elsewhere, with interest being shown in Portugal, India, and Japan.
www.free-range.org.uk
