A new hub for contemporary art – Cromwell Place in South Kensington
Cromwell Place Grade II historical buildings. Courtesy Cromwell Place
Looking to be the new hub for the commercial art world, Cromwell Place is opening its doors this weekend in a complex of five Grade II listed buildings in South Kensington. Only a short walk away from the Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Place offers an innovate alternative for the art world – a membership-based service that includes exhibition spaces, offices, showrooms and storage. The aim is to offer a flexible and more affordable entry into the London market to galleries without head offices in the capital. Marketing itself as a ‘more effective way for arts businesses and institutions to thrive and survive, within an increasingly competitive global art market’, Cromwell Place could become the most innovative art industry initiative coming out of London this year.
A principal focus of the organisation is to foster community. The co-working space, as well as the club room (opening in 2021), will offer something unique to a very individualistic art world. Moreover, by offering honorary memberships to curators and museum directors, there is a clear ambition to foster collaborations between private and public institutions.
Cromwell Place’s model also provides a chance to encourage diversity in the London scene and to bring galleries that represent minority voices in to the art scene globally. Already part of the first set of exhibitions is the Aspan Gallery from Almaty, Kazakhstan. The gallery presents the work of two artists in an exhibition titled Almagul Menlibayeva: It’s Easy to Be a Line / Yerbossyn Meldibekov: It’s Difficult to be a Point. The title references the Russian artist Sergey Kalmykov (1891–1967), who, after moving from Moscow to Almaty, was able to practice his art without submitting to the constraints of the Soviet government. Both Menlibayeva and Meldibekov offer perspectives on Kazakh’s history and culture that are too often absent from the Western discourse.
Almagul Menlibayeva, It’s Easy to Be a Line. Courtesy Cromwell Place.
Mohamed Melehi, Arabian Moucharabieh. Courtesy Cromwell Place.
Another newcomer to the London scene is the Dubai-based Lawrie Shabibi Gallery. The exhibition Arabian Moucharabieh by Moroccan artist Mohamed Melehi offers bold colours with wave motifs that are signature to his work. Part of the Casablanca school, Melehi is a key figure of postcolonial Moroccan art and has played an important role in connecting Moroccan-Berber crafts with contemporary art. The eight new paintings exhibited at Cromwell Place are a perfect opportunity to get to know his bold palette and graphic style.
Words: Polina Chizhova