The Collect international art fair to be held online – here is how to attend from anywhere in the world

This February, the Crafts Council's art fair will experience the biggest change in its 17-year history. 

Instead of taking over the Neoclassical Georgian kingdom of Somerset House in Westminster, London, the Crafts Council has announced 'Collect' will take place entirely online as the national lockdown prevails in the UK. 

Though these restrictions prevent celebrants from congregating in London, the virtual nature of the fair allows art-lovers beyond the UK to take part. This, therefore, offers a rare opportunity for international collectors to admire and purchase pieces from some of the finest artists in the world. 

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In partnership with the art platform Artsy.net, Collect will exhibit works from a collection of distinguished international galleries, including Gallery LVS & LVS CRAFT in South Korea, ATTA' N' ATTA Art Space in Thailand, Galerie SCENE OUVERTE in France, and Galerie Rosemarie Jäger in Germany. Collectors can access the event from February 24th before it opens to the wider public on February 26th. 

The event continues to be the only gallery-presented art fair dedicated to the promotion of contemporary craft and design.

This year's fair was designed particularly with a metropolitan American audience in mind, as the Crafts Council revealed that over four million adults in Los Angeles and New York have recently invested in a craft from an artist in the UK. 

Further to this, the Manhattan-based J. Lohmann Gallery is among the US galleries and artists taking part. 

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Expanding on the benefits of their first virtual celebration, Isobel Dennis, Collect Fair Director, shared: 'Collect has introduced and represented the very best UK and international galleries for contemporary craft to design buyers and collectors for 17 years. Creating opportunity in the disruption of this past year has been so important, ensuring we maintain visibility for this global moment for craft in the 2021 cultural calendar.'

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The director continued: ' The online version of the Collect art fair will provide rich content as well as helping collectors to discover, view, and purchase exceptional work from highly talented international artists.'

'Working with Artsy.net adds a whole additional level of new audience engagement, further elevating contemporary collectible craft via Collect on this global art platform,' Isobel added.