OLD TRUMAN BREWERY NEWS // MAY 2013 // TRUMAN REVIEW

{	THE LINE UP THIS June	}
	Car Boots full of Affordable Art, Free Ice Cream, Art Exhibitions, The Official Start of Summer (!), Fashion, Art & Design Graduate Shows, PopUp Shops and Sample Sales, DIY Sound Making and Vintage Pioneers! www.trumanbrewery.com

Free Range AKA Europe’s largest graduate art and design exhibition returns to the Old Truman Brewery this summer for its 13th year. The Truman special project was founded by events manager Tamsin O’Hanlon in a bid to get the Truman site recognised as a hub for creativity back in 2001. She has since continued to establish Free Range, allowing it to flourish into one of the most important events in the creative calendar.

The show now has over 3,000 students participating from more than 50 courses and is an acclaimed hot spot for discovering new and upcoming talent with fans including fashion mogul Giles Deacon.

“Free Range provides a brilliant platform for graduates to showcase their creative talents to a diverse audience in the epicentre of London's creative scene. Each year the exhibition grows and the standard of work gets better and better” Deacon

Spanning over eight weeks the event provides a platform for University students from all over the country to showcase art, fashion & textiles, architecture & interior design, photography and motion arts. Free Range knows as well as anyone that it’s tough out there at the moment especially for students in the arts, which sometimes struggle to get that all important break. That’s why at Free Range they are given the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise to some of the best in the business, a win win situation really.

We caught up with Tamsin to ask her why Free Range is important, what’s in store for this year’s show
and future plans…

When did you first join the Old Truman Brewery?
1996

What sparked the idea for Free Range?
I was running events at the Old Truman Brewery and some colleges had started to show an interest in using the warehouse spaces here. We decided that we could help them by promoting their shows and it went from there.

How did Truman help you achieve this?
I work for Truman so the project is a Truman Brewery special project. Essentially we are one and the same.

What makes Truman such a great place to hold Free Range?
It’s right in the core of creative London. Since 2001, the area itself has and continues to develop, as does Free Range. For graduates, it introduces them to this central hub of creative opportunity, with direct access to the surrounding local enterprises and potential employees.

How long does it take you to plan a show?
Free Range is a year round event! As soon as the final exhibitors leave we begin planning for next year’s shows! Bookings and paperwork starts as soon as colleges are back, as does our press and creative design ideas. I try to add something new each year; beginning plans just as the shows ends means that we are constantly building upon and improving Free Range at a very organic pace.

How did the title Free Range come about?
My ex-boyfriend Paul Insect and I were in a café in New York talking about names and came up with it there.

Why is an event like this so important for creative students?
Free Range acts an important stepping stone for graduates; easing their transition from education to industry. We have set in place a supportive structure and categorized calendar for exhibitors, as well as exhibitor catalogues, individual online student portfolios and a level of free PR. As the name suggests, Free Range offers the students a balanced amount of support and freedom to exhibitors; we have varying sized exhibitor groups, sometimes as small as 10-15 students.

How much control are the students given over their exhibitions?
We have put in place a structure that gives students the support of categorized weeks and scheduled set up days and private view events, but how they actually wish to exhibit is totally up to them. We encourage some healthy competition between courses… exhibitor set ups change from space to space, ensuring each show and week offers something new! As long as health and safety regulations are met we’re open to anything and everything!

The first Free Range show was back in 2001, how much has it changed since then?
It’s been a gradual process which I’ve built on every year. When I started doing Free Range the shows were held in completely different buildings all over the 11acre Old Truman Brewery site. The majority of shows are now all held in one building here called F Block.

Fashion week runs through part of this year’s show, what do you have planned for that?
Fashion week is spread over week 1 and 2 this year, with 4 catwalk shows and 5 static shows in total. We’re really excited, it’s great to have static exhibitions as well as catwalk shows, ensuring a fashion presence at all times throughout the weeks.

What’s been your highlight over the past 12 years?
Meeting so many wonderful creative people and seeing how they progress after the shows.

Have there been any major success stories from students who have participated in your shows?
There are so many. Lots of them return to the Old Truman Brewery to work on projects whether it be a music video or to design a new shop front space for a retailer.

What’s new for this year?
We have a new visitor entrance and information point at our Loading Bay Gallery on Dray Walk; this will lead onto the shows and be a meeting place for exhibitors and visitors to have a coffee before the shows.

Are there any students we should keep an eye out for this year?
There’s a lot of talent this year, the work so far seems to be really bright and colourful, just like our new branding and catalogue! There seems to be a lot of interaction based pieces across all categories, particularly during the photography weeks, which promise an interesting visitor experience!

What’s in store for future shows?
More, bigger and better!

#FR13
The Free Range Graduate Shows
www.free-range.org.uk

twitter.com/FreeRangeShows
www.facebook.com/FreeRangeCommunity

Find out more about Truman East End Lifestyle
www.trumanbrewery.com

Feature by Tayla Mead (@TaylaMead) / Photographs by Libby Mor

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(The words of the writer do not represent the views of the Old Truman Brewery)

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