Shetland Open 2009 3rd September – 4th October 2009 Bonhoga Gallery – Weisdale Exhibition Preview: Wednesday 2nd September 7.30 – 9pm
Shetland Arts’ Bonhoga Gallery will shortly be opening the annual exhibition of work by artists and craft-makers from across Shetland. The Shetland Open is showing at Bonhoga Gallery, Weisdale Mill from Thursday 3rd September until Sunday 4th October 2009.
The Open is a non-selective exhibition of work by amateur, professional and student artists and craft-makers who are Shetland by birth, education or residency. Each exhibitor, aged 18 or over, is allowed to exhibit one piece of work up to 1mx1m in size.
The show has been running annually for 14 of the last 15 years and attracts work from a huge range of people throughout the Isles, in many different styles. This year the work is as varied as ever, featuring wearable craft items, digital and metalwork, as well as the more conventional disciplines of painting, photography, printmaking, embroidery and applied arts.
There will be awards made by the following sponsors: Vaila Fine Art, John Goudie, Millgaet Media, Shetland Arts and Crafts and Baker Tilly.
After the success of this year’s Quintet show, in which last year’s five winners were given the opportunity to stage a group show of work at Bonhoga, Shetland Arts hopes to repeat this formula by matching each prize with a further £100 towards the group show for 2010. Exhibition Curator Mary Smith welcomed this development opportunity, “this is an ideal way to encourage and further the development of Shetland’s artists and craft-makers and provide them with a platform to show their work in a professional capacity if they so choose. We had a great response to the Quintet show this May and a number of works were sold”.
The Open is always a popular show with locals and visitors alike - the work is eclectic and shows what a variety of talent Shetland has to offer.
All the work in the exhibition is for sale, giving an opportunity for collectors to purchase a piece by their favourite Shetland artist or spot a bargain by one of the younger artists or makers on the local scene.
The preview of the Shetland Open is on Wednesday 3rd September at 7.30pm this year, to avoid a clash with the WordPlay and ScreenPlay events of the following days. Everyone is invited to come along to celebrate the opening of the show.
The Bonhoga Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.30-4.30 and on Sunday from 12pm-4.30.
