SOFA 2004 has come and gone with a flurry of international action. Australian artists and galleries have once again benefited from the focused attention on Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art presented annually in Chicago and New York.

Craft Australia presents some of the highlights of this year's SOFA art fair including a report by Stephen Bowers, Managing Director of JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design Centre who participated in this year's international exposition; an overview of Klaus Moje's successful solo show presented by Heller Gallery New York and a list of all the participating Australian galleries.

Craft Australia has had a long history with SOFA. For over ten years the organisation has been commissioning artists and galleries to participate in this event through the assistance of the Australia Council. The connection established by this continuos Australian presence at the largest international craft and design exposition has had many positive repercussions for the promotion of Australian craft and design on the world market. The most significant of which is a keen desire for Australian work by international collectors and galleries.

To this end, the Visual Arts Craft Board of the Australia Council has supported Australia's participation at SOFA 2004 through their International Craft Strategy. The funding saw the JamFactory coordinate an Australian exhibition under the banner of Australian Contemporary titled Luminous Surface - Under a Southern Light. 'Australian Contemporary' is a new brand created to take the work of Australian contemporary craft artists and designers to an international audience through the participation at prestigious international art events.

The Australia Council has assigned the task of co-ordinating the International Recurrent Craft Events program until 2006 to JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design, one of Australia's leading craft and design agencies. JamFactory has taken on this responsibility in collaboration with the Craft Organisations of Australia, representing every State and Territory of Australia. Stephen Bowers gives us more details about this show in his story SOFA So Good.

This exhibition spearheaded the Australian presence at SOFA 2004 which also included 5 other Australian galleries who between them presented over 35 Australian artists. The galleries were Beaver, Narek, Raglan, Kirra and Glass Artists Gallery. In addition 8 Australian artists were represented by top international galleries including Bullseye, Leo Kaplan, Del Mano and Heller Galleries from the USA and Gallerie Besson from the UK. Such interest from international galleries confirms the value of the long established connection between Australia and the USA through SOFA.

Further attention was also drawn to the Australian representation at SOFA through the public lecture given by Klaus Moje titled Views from Up, Over and Down Under: a Quarter Century of Glass Art and Education in Europe, the US and Australia as part of the SOFA lectures series. This feature talk was presented in conjunction with Moje's solo exhibition at Heller Gallery, New York; one of only 3 other glass artists featured in a solo show at SOFA this year the others being Lino Tagliapietra and Dale Chihuly. This acclaim for Moje was capped by the fact that he had been earlier awarded the 2004 Urban Glass Lifetime Achievement Award recognising his contribution to the international glass art movement.

Most artists and galleries participating at the SOFA 2004 exposition reported good sales and great interest in the work they exhibited. Confirming yet again the strong interest by the USA collectors for Australian contemporary craft and design. This transpacific route will be well traversed next year with SOFA in New York in June and in Chicago in November. In addition the acclaimed Glass Artists Society Conference will be held in Australia for the first time next year. All the action will be happening in Adelaide in May 2005.

Catrina Vignando, General Manager, Craft Australia
December 2004

SOFA So Good

Things went exceptionally well for Australian Contemporary at SOFA. The Navy pier location was the cynosure for Chicago's attention over the three days that the Fair was open. With a family friendly site, taxis that finally got it right, hoopla and lollapaloozza, flags and banners, it was all very upbeat in an American ticker tape sort of way.

Australian Contemporary's aim was to present a high quality curated survey showcase of selected works exploring the theme of Luminous Surface - under a Southern Light. The experience made a lot of impact on audiences and collectors over there. We received very complimentary comments from SOFA organisers, other gallery directors, artists and the public. The quality of the other five Australian galleries at SOFA was also very high, with strong exhibitions from Beaver, Narek, Glass Artists Gallery, Raglan and Kirra.

SOFA has been operating for eleven years now, growing and getting bigger all the time. With a new format for opening night and knowledgeable area-supervisors assigned to different sectors of the massive exhibition hall it meant that local support on the ground was excellent. Bump-in, lighting and bump-out went like oiled ball bearings in a roller-skate ring.

SOFA got good local media coverage and, with US presidential election results announced just before SOFA opened, that particular issue was no longer a question and visitors were not distracted. The Fair itself recorded record attendances (34,000+) and dealers, collectors and the record crowd all seemed to agree that SOFA 2004 was a success.

Other international presence was strong, Argentina attended for the first time, Israel had a terrific presence with a large customised booth near the foyer entry, while Britain and Scotland colonised a whole suite of booths with strong exhibitions and information presentation. My prize for polish and refinement though would go to the exhibitions mounted by the Danish. The best craft and design objects produced in Denmark could be seen within their extensive compound.

In addition to presence from Canada, I noted representatives from New Zealand who were there to take a measure of SOFA as they have identified it as a strong target for future market development. SOFA has an amazing energy and enthusiasm about it. Crowds were curious and communicative - making it dry and thirsty work as we personally met with and talked to several thousand visitors including many collectors. Along with other galleries and artists, collectors at SOFA are a key audience. Approximately 90% of work is sold to connoisseurs.

To be at SOFA is always a thrill for artists, and Australian artists were well represented by too many outstanding talents to list here. Australian Contemporary was staffed by the curator, Pauline Griffin, three of the artists were also present - Ben Sewell from NSW, Marian Hosking from VIC and Tim Edwards from SA. The fourth artist, Belinda Newick, could not attend as she was on an Aslialink residency in Sri Lanka. It was very pleasing to see the striking impact that the artists' work had on audiences. We received many comments in relation to the subtlety, the luminosity and the reflective qualities of the works. Pauline the curator was thrilled with the overall results.

Readers will be interested to know that sales were strong. Collectors purchased all of Tim Edward's glass objects, Marion Hosking's fine jewellery was sought out and purchased by other dealers as well as collectors, Ben Sewell had only a piece or two left unsold, while Belinda Newick sold all of her pieces. We had a single end booth in aisle four, with the other five Australian Galleries spread out and mingled in with the other 90 or so galleries present. Australian Contemporary was very effective in providing an international audience and market with an engaging experience of contemporary Australian craft and design. This aspect was complimented by directing visitors to the other five Australian galleries by producing and distributing small fliers listing the galleries' names and contact details.

We had lots of questions about the GAS (Glass Artists Society) 2005 conference to be held in Adelaide in May - and we were able to see the Corning Museum's mobile hot truck in action - this should also be coming to Australia for GAS 2005.

Stephen Bowers
Managing Director
JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design
Email: stephen.bowers@jamfactory.com.au

Should you wish to reproduce all or part of this article please include the following acknowledgement.

This article was first published on the Craft Australia website
Catrina Vignando, General Manager, Craft Australia
December 2004