LONDON.- David Roberts Art Foundation announced that a key part of the organisations’ 2020 programme will take place in Scotland, launching with an event on the opening night of Glasgow International (23 April 2020).

DRAF - a London based non-profit organisation founded by Scottish art collector David Roberts - will, in 2020, build upon previous successful collaborations outside London. The main focus will be Scotland, to strengthen existing links with organisations in Glasgow, Edinburgh and others to be announced.

For the launch of GI, DRAF will present a series of performances at SWG3, a large warehouse space in Glasgow, by internationally recognised artists, all of whom have worked with DRAF before and are part of its history of developing dynamic live work. The programme includes the UK premiere of a new work by Paul Maheke, commissioned by The Renaissance Society in Chicago; work by Lina Lapelytė, fresh from winning the 2019 Venice Biennale Golden Lion (with collaborators Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė and Vaiva Grainytė); and from Nina Beier, who will present an extract of a new performance commission set to take place at MO.CO. in Montpellier later in April 2020. Working with the GI 2020 theme of ‘Attention’, each artist will develop different registers of attention throughout the evening, whether through the flickering presence of dancers, plays on folk, pop and opera, or the vulnerability of a changing world.

DRAF’s work in Scotland draws upon David Roberts’ own links to the country, having been born and brought up in Greenock. DRAF is also planning to run artist and writer residencies in Scotland in the future.

David Roberts says, “Having been brought up on the West Coast I will always have an affinity with Scotland. We are keen to take DRAF’s work beyond London and, given my own links along with the exciting arts programming happening in Scotland, it felt like a natural step to be collaborating with organisations there. We are thrilled to be working with Glasgow International and looking forward to sharing DRAF’s expertise in performance programming with other institutional partners.”

Further national partnerships for DRAF will also focus on sharing the David Roberts Collection with broader audiences through opening it up to curatorial research, exhibitions, and proactive lending.

Kate Davies, DRAF Collection Director, says, “The future for DRAF is collaborative in nature and our curatorial strength will be enhanced by developing programmes with institutional partners nationally. We are committed to making the Collection more accessible through an expanded loans programme, initiating links with other collections and activating the Collection to inspire unique projects and commissions across the UK.”

DRAF will still be based in London and continue to host an Evening of Performances, an annual event that takes place during Frieze Week in London. Other events will also take place in London across 2020. Meanwhile, further regional programming is planned for Sheffield and other areas to be announced, strengthening DRAF’s commitment to national programming. In Sheffield, an emphasis on sharing the Collection will be at the centre of this collaboration.