After months of planning and preparation, Craft Scotland presented eleven Scottish based makers at COLLECT 2011 at the beginning of the month. 

As I walked into the Saatchi Gallery on the afternoon of COLLECT 2011’s Private View and headed to the location of the craftscotland stand on Gallery 7, my heart was beating with excitement. Whilst I was involved with the selection of the makers and the original concept for the stand, I haven’t been so involved in the preparation for the show this year. I knew we had the ingredients for a wonderful presentation – the talented makers and project team, the largest floor space we have ever had, the subtle but ever-present Scottish theme running through every element of our stand – but I was yet to see how each piece would fit together. 

The result was, for me at least, breath taking. If it wasn’t for the fact that our project team and some of our makers were on-site busy painting, cleaning and generally whizzing around to add the final touches, I may have checked that I was in the correct place. The stand was elegant, stylish and unique. The one phrase that immediately sprung to mind was ‘grown-up’. 

The sentiment that craftscotland had left the kids table and joined the main event was echoed by many visitors over the following days. It’s hard to compare craftscotland’s presentation at COLLECT 2009 with what we achieved two weeks ago. There are no comparisons – in two short years we have come a long way. It was wonderful to hear so many collectors, curators and journalists say that craftscotland had the best stand at the show. Not bad for an organisation which doesn’t have a gallery space. Many more said that between The Scottish Gallery and Craft Scotland, Scotland stood tall above the rest. 

We took six makers to COLLECT via our craftscotland bursary scheme. This is the first time we have done this, and following successful networking and mentoring sessions with each of the bursary makers we will be creating further training opportunities at future Craft Scotland shows. 

I’d like to thank everyone who came to see us during the event. We met lots of new contacts during the show with many people coming back to see us more than once. We’re also delighted at how well received our COLLECT sub-site has been this year, with lots of people watching the films created for us by Precious Productions. Thank you for your support. 

Thanks must also go to everyone involved in the preparation for COLLECT 2011. I know everyone is thoroughly exhausted after working tirelessly to create our presentation. 

We are still taking sales and commissions on behalf of the eleven makers. If you would like more information please do not hesitate to contact me at emma@craftscotland.org 

Watch a slideshow of our photographs from COLLECT 2011: