The Raw Arts Festivals 2004 to 2008

The Raw Arts Festival

What was the Raw Arts Festival?

• It was dedicated to exhibiting artworks by non-mainstream artists e.g. Outsider, Folk, Raw or Self-taught etc. For five years, the festival exhibited a wide variety of non-mainstream art, such as works created by homeless people, adults with autism and well established Outsider/Raw artists etc.

The growth of the festival...

• The first Raw Arts Festival (RAF) was held in London in August 2004.

• This festival gained a lot of publicity and support.

• This made the second festival easier to book.

The London RAF’s

• The first RAF exhibited 65 artists/organisations from 9 different countries

• The second RAF exhibited 95 artists/organisations from 12 different countries

• Both floors of the massive Candid Arts Trust space were completely full.

• The private views for both events were extremely well attended

New York Arts Magazine

• I worked with the NY Arts magazine to co-organise RAF 2006 in Spain and RAF 2007 in New York.

• By this time, the festival had received publicity worldwide…

In total……I created and directed five RAF’s:

•RAF 2004 was held at the Candid Arts Trust, London, UK•RAF 2005 was held at the Candid Arts Trust, London, UK•RAF 2006 was held at Color Elefante, Valencia, Spain•RAF 2007 was held at the Carrozzini von Buhler Gallery, New York, USA•RAF 2008 was held at the Infusion Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

The statistics prove…

• The second RAF was ‘London's largest and best International exhibition of self-taught art mounted to date’.

• This was widely quoted in the press.• The RAF is one of the only non-mainstream

festivals to be truly international• I am not aware of any other non-mainstream

festival that has had the same impact.

Widespread international acclaim

• The RAF succeeded in gaining a vast quantity of publicity from publications world-wide including:– Art Fairs International– The Independent– Los Angeles Times– Metro– Raw Vision– The Times– Yahoo news– And many others...

The RAF provided...

• non-mainstream artists an opportunity to be recognised as uniquely talented creative individuals with an extraordinary gift

• a safe haven for vulnerable people to be themselves & meet others with similar values

• opportunities for artists and organisations to do some interesting outreach work etc

• artists opportunities for recognition

Pictures from London 04 and 05

RAF London 2004 and 2005

And an art car!

Publicity from 2004 and 05

Candid Arts Trust

• The galleries are behind Angel tube station in Central London.

• They have a great atmosphere, excellent location and easy access.

• Nearby market, galleries on street etc provide excellent opportunities/publicity etc

Candid Arts Trust - continued

• A massive 6,500 square feet of exhibition space is available

• There are 20 artists studios in the building• Banqueting facilities, conference and

screening rooms and rehearsal spaces• Relaxed cafe next door• Access to Candid’s mailing list etc

2004 poster

Image for 2005 poster

Images from RAF 2006 and 2007

A You-tube video

• I have recently put online a video of the Raw Arts Festival private view held in New York 2007 at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WifbkZpJn4

• This video was taken by SeniorPinky

The end

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