How do we define ‘the contemporary’, can we collect it, and if so, how should we do it? A look at some of the issues from the perspective of the Word & Image Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London argues for the primacy of the object over the digital surrogate, and investigates the challenges -and opportunities - involved in collecting or representing ‘boundary crossing’ art and design practice. The arguments are illustrated by a selection of recent acquisitions, ranging from book arts, multiples and ‘maps’, to prints, drawings and wallpapers.

Over the past thirty years, the artist’s book has inspired comment from critics of disparate disciplines from writers on art, bibliography and librarianship, all keen to bring the artist’s book under the writer’s explanatory gaze and assimilate it into critical discourse. As a cross-disciplinary field of activity, it is thus open to constant reconfiguration from the respective voices of the practitioner, the critic, the librarian and the bibliographer. The definitions and categorisations offered by these writers often belie their respective dispositions, their training and the expectations of the audiences for whom they write.

In 1997, the Danish Folketing made a grant of 200 million Danish kroner, the DEF grant, to upgrade IT facilities in research libraries throughout the country and help create Denmark’s Electronic Research Library. Most of the money was assigned to the major research libraries, but funds were also made available to some medium-sized libraries, among which was the National Art and Design Library in the Danish Museum of Decorative Art in Copenhagen.

Illuminated manuscripts, beer bottle labels, photographs of street furniture, pieces of Regency wallpaper and early films of the Royal Sussex Regiment all appear on the Art and Design Books in Brighton web site. They are just some of the items held in library and archival collections in Brighton & Hove that are relevant to the study of art and design history. This paper describes the smallest and newest of the collaborative collection management projects of the UK’s Research Support Libraries Programme.

The European Union-funded Vektor project has focused on the opportunities for documenting contemporary art material in European archives and making it accessible on the Internet. After three years of research Vektor is now publishing the results, amongst which is European Artnet, a website connecting a number of different archival collections and giving information on contemporary art in Europe.

‘Our task, with arts as the instrument, is not only to entertain and engage, but also to educate and inspire so that arts can effectively enrich the lives of all Singaporeans. The National Library Board and Esplanade welcome this opportunity not only to challenge people’s perceptions of art, but also to seamlessly integrate the arts into our daily lives.’

Benson Puah, CEO, The Esplanade Co. Ltd.