The Roberts Institute of Art, formerly operating as David Roberts Art Foundation (DRAF), is a non-profit contemporary arts organisation based in London. It commissions pioneering performance art, collaborates with national partners on exhibitions and works to research and share the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.  Art collector

David Roberts David or Dave Roberts may refer to: Arts and literature * David Roberts (painter) (1796–1864), Scottish painter * David Roberts (art collector), Scottish contemporary art collector * David Roberts (novelist), English editor and mystery writer ...

founded the organisation in 2007 and since then it has welcomed over 135,000 visitors, partnered with over 100 museums and organisations and worked together with over 1,000 artists.

History

Founded in London, UK in 2007, the Roberts Institute of Art operated as the David Roberts Art Foundation (DRAF) until April 2021. Named after its founder David Roberts, DRAF was set up as a platform for artistic and critical experimentation and to share what was then known as the David Roberts Collection and is now called the David and Indrė Roberts Collection. DRAF originally ran an exhibition space on

Great Titchfield Street Great Titchfield Street is a street in the West End of London. It runs north from Oxford Street to Greenwell Street, just short of the busy A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. It lies within the informally designated London area of Fitzrovia ...

, central London, presenting group and solo exhibitions and hosting talks and performances. The annual Evening of Performances (2008–ongoing), which showcases and commissions live work by artists, musicians and choreographers, was inaugurated here. In 2017 a tenth-anniversary edition of Evening of Performances took place at the historic music venue,

KOKO Koko or KOKO may refer to: Animals *Koko (gorilla) (1971–2018), a gorilla trained to communicate in American Sign Language *Koko (dog) (2005–2012), the Australian kelpie in the 2011 film ''Red Dog'' *Koko (horse), an Irish racehorse that won ...

, London and included performances by Lina Lapelytė, Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings, Jamila Johnson-Small, Kris Lemsalu and

Marvin Gaye Chetwynd Monster Chetwynd (born Alalia Chetwynd, 1973, best known as Spartacus Chetwynd and Marvin Gaye Chetwynd) is a British artist known for reworkings of iconic moments from cultural history in improvised performances. In 2012, she was nominated for ...

. The Curators' Series (2009–2020) was also established to support curatorial research and practices. Over its 11-year period, DRAF invited independent curators, duos and organisations, including Arcadia Missa (UK),

Christine Eyene Christine Eyene (born Paris, 1970) is a Cameroonian art critic, art historian, and curator. Biography Born in 1970 in Paris, Christine Eyene studied the history of art at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University, also in Paris. She obtained a Diplôm ...

(Cameroon), Mihnea Mircan (Romania), Pablo Leon de la Barra (Mexico) and Raimundas Malasauskas (Lithuanian), to develop and deliver thematic exhibitions with newly commissioned works. In 2012 the organisation moved to a former 19th-century furniture factory in Camden, north London.Mansfield, Susan (3 May 2014)
"Art collector David Roberts on his new gallery"
'' The Scostman''. In this larger space, DRAF supported the research, development and display of live-art practices, presented exhibitions and established a forum for discussion and knowledge sharing. Committed to championing performance and research from the outset, between 2015 and 2017 the Camden gallery also housed DRAF Studio, a dedicated space for live projects which brought together and hosted in residence artists, choreographers, musicians, writers and peer organisations to discuss and develop live work and installation. After DRAF's ten-year anniversary, the Camden space closed in late 2017 with the aim of sharing the organisation's programming more widely.

David and Indrė Roberts Collection

The Roberts Institute of Art manages the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, a body of more than 2,500 artworks by 850 artists. The collection is rooted in a passion for contemporary art, an ambition to share extraordinary work by some of the world's most influential artists and to support artists at different stages of their careers. The Roberts Institute of Art is committed to sharing it with a wide range of audiences. Works from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection have been shown publicly in numerous shows nationally and internationally, including at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

(Paris), the

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spai ...

, the

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...

(Dublin), the

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one ...

, the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

(London), the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...

(Edinburgh), the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

(New York) and

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

(London). The collection has been the subject of in-depth exhibitions at the

Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born an ...

(2013) and

Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invol ...

, Wales (2018).

Structure

The David Roberts Art Foundation Limited (trading as The Roberts Institute of Art) is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1119738) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (No. 6051439) and is supported by Edinburgh House Estates Limited.

External links

References

{{Reflist Non-profit organisations based in London Arts centres in London Arts organizations established in 2007 2007 establishments in England