Art Trade Forum
2024 Programme
The 2024 Art Trade Forum brought together twelve curators and art historians from a variety of backgrounds to gain a greater understanding of the London art market. Over the course of the programme, participants were given opportunities to forge connections and discuss their experiences acquiring for public collections.
Day One introduced participants to the Forum with a session on Collections and Acquisition Development. This looked at the various funding channels available to curators aiming to acquire works of art for public collections and provided participants with supporting knowledge to underpin the visits to auction houses, art dealers and commercial galleries later in the week. The later sessions of the day included visits to art dealers in Mayfair, where participants learnt more about the varied inner workings of these institutions.
Day Two continued to develop participants’ knowledge of acquisition strategies and funding channels with sessions led by Ruth Cornett and Luisa Romanelli from Christie’s, and Edward Clive from Edward Clive Art Advisory. In the afternoon, participants were given previews of sales to be conducted at auction houses and heard how they can better work with auction houses to develop their collections.
On Day Three, participants were given time to explore galleries in East London and take advantage of activities being put on for London Art Week. They visited the artist Rana Begum’s studio and the Kate MacGarry gallery to hear about the context in which contemporary artists make work, and how they are represented by galleries and engage with the art market.
Day Four began with a visit to Ben Elwes Fine Art to view their exhibition Anna Boberg (1864–1935): Painting the Arctic Summer. In the afternoon, participants were given a tour of the Government Art Collection to contextualise some of the strategies learnt over the course of the week.
More details about the 2024 programme can be found in the PDF document at the bottom of this page.
Participants
Calum Bayne
Calum Bayne is a curator who explores social justice, artistic intervention and ethical practice. He has commissioned and produced projects for In-Situ (2020–24) and independently, including with The NewBridge Project. He was the British School at Rome and Newcastle University Connect Fellow (2022) and is part of the British Art Network’s Emerging Curators Group 2024.
Surya Bowyer
Surya Bowyer is working on an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded collaborative doctoral project between the Science Museum Group and the School of Historical Studies at Birkbeck, University of London. He is also working on the Science Museum’s next major special exhibition, opening 12 December 2024. He is a British Art Network Emerging Curator (2023).
Dr Emily Burns
Dr Emily Burns is Curator of Collections and Interiors (West London) for English Heritage. Her doctoral and academic work addresses British and Old Master painting, collecting and display. Previously, Emily was Curator at Watts Gallery and Artists' Village, Vivmar Curatorial Fellow at the National Gallery and Assistant Curator at the National Portrait Gallery.
Alice Clanachan
Alice Clanachan is Curator, Prints at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. She is responsible for prints in the V&A’s collection from 1500 to 1850. Prior to her move to the UK in 2023, she held curatorial roles in Adelaide and Melbourne. Her research interests include Northern Renaissance printmaking, transnationalism and cross-cultural exchange in print media.
Dr Nicole Cochrane
Dr Nicole Cochrane is an art historian and curator, specialising in the history of art, collecting and museums from the eighteenth century to the present day. She is currently Assistant Curator in Historic British Art (1790-1850) at Tate Britain.
Natasha Fyffe
Natasha Fyffe is in her first year of curatorial training at the Royal Academy of Arts as part of the Genesis Future Curators Programme. Natasha completed her MA in museum and art gallery studies at the University of Manchester. Her research explored how feminist theories can develop decolonial exhibition strategies.
Coco Hocken
Coco Hocken is an independent curator working between the UK and Uruguay. With a diverse background spanning academia, exhibition management and community engagement, she is a dynamic professional committed to exploring the intersection of creative expression, public institutions and social impact on both sides of the Atlantic. She has a degree from the University of Leicester with The Luke Hermann Prize for best graduate in history of art and is an alumna of Christie’s Education with a certificate in art law.
Gabriel Jamroz
Gabriel Jamroz works as Genesis Future Curator in the collections department at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London. He is an art historian with particular interest in Victorian art, fashion and Queer culture of the time. He gained curatorial experience in the past by volunteering at various museums and, as one of his first bigger projects, he was involved with the Flaming June display at the RA.
Chloe Nahum
Chloe Nahum is the Bridget Riley Art Foundation Curatorial Fellow at The Courtauld Gallery. She has held curatorial roles at Pallant House Gallery and IWM, and curated Mary Stephenson and Grace Pailthorpe: Fertile Spoon at Bosse & Baum in 2021. She gained her MA in modern British art from the Courtauld Institute and her DPhil, on the subject of dreams and the First World War, from the University of Oxford.
Laura-Maria Popoviciu
Laura-Maria Popoviciu is an art historian and a curator making connections between art and diplomacy. Presenting works of art through a cultural diplomacy lens has allowed her to develop a unique and imaginative approach. In her current curatorial role at the Government Art Collection, she promotes British art worldwide through displays, research and acquisitions. She holds a PhD in Italian Renaissance art, and MA degrees in cultural and intellectual history, and contemporary curating.
Huaiyuan (Robert) Ren
Huaiyuan (Robert) Ren is currently completing a doctorate in history and philosophy of art at the University of Kent. His research focuses on contemporary art exhibitions in China and Britain from the 1980s to 2000s, and their relationship with the general public. He has also been the Student and Emerging Professional Representative of ICOM UK since 2021, building a community for students and young professionals in the museum and cultural industry.
Ellie Warren
Ellie Warren is a PhD candidate in art history at the University of Plymouth. In 2023, she was awarded a full PhD scholarship and a doctoral teaching assistantship. Ellie lectures on museology for Plymouth’s undergraduate art history and anthropology programmes. Her research focuses on the image of Cornwall at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1885 to 1939, with a particular emphasis on the Newlyn School. In 2019, she curated the exhibition Moving Image: Bringing Newlyn School to Life at Penlee House Gallery & Museum. Ellie also contributed research to the major exhibition Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration at The Box, Plymouth and has delivered several sold-out talks on Newlyn School works in their collection. Ellie also worked at Tate St Ives for three years.