Collectors Anita and Poju Zabludowicz have announced that their contemporary art space in north London will close next month. The project space, located in Chalk Farm in a former Methodist church (176 Prince of Wales Road), opened in 2007 and will close 17 December.
Since the launch, the Zabludowicz Collection has organised over 100 free exhibitions at the venue along with more than 640 free events and performances, a statement says. Artists including Ryan Trecartin, Lizzie Fitch, Donna Huanca and LuYang have had their UK debut at the space. LuYang’s show last year was critically acclaimed with Time Out reporting the artist's use of "aesthetics and language of anime and gaming to explore life and death" as "hiding some very deep, very complex ideas”.
Since opening in 2007, Zabludowicz Collection London's space has attracted over 250,000 visitors, a spokesperson for the gallery tells The Art Newspaper. "The consultation period for staff is ongoing, but the team will be significantly reduced in size," the spokesperson adds.
The "[c]ollection will concentrate on increasing loans of artworks to institutions and extending our digital presence and offer." the couple says. "We look forward to developing new partnerships with institutions and independent curators, as well as continuing and building upon our commissions, professional development opportunities and residencies for artists.” The collection will continue to run educational projects for emerging curators and artists via the Master Class and Testing Ground programmes.
The Zabludowicz couple started collecting in 1994, amassing more than 8,000 works by 600 artists. In 2010, the Zabludowicz Collection initiated an international residency programme for artists on the island of Sarvisalo in Loviisa, Finland.
In 2021 however, 25 artists “deauthored” their works of art in the Zabludowiczs’ collection because of the London couple’s links with Israel according to the Sunday Times. The group of artists and cultural workers, known as Boycott/Divest Zabludowicz or BDZ, cited the Zabludowicz Collection’s links to the Israeli state as the motive for “disaffiliating” themselves from their works.
In May 2021, when a crisis engulfed the region following protests against the impending eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, Poju and Anita Zabludowicz issued a statement, saying: “We founded the Zabludowicz Collection to nurture art and artists and promote a culture of inclusivity. The war between Israel and Hamas has broken our hearts once again. We passionately support a Two-State Solution that guarantees the rights of Palestinians and Israelis to live and work side-by-side in peace.”
The couple’s company, Tamares, sold its British Israel Property operation for $700m in 2011, according to The Sunday Times which also reported in its 2022 Rich List that the couple’s net worth is £1.495bn.