History
Founded in London, UK in 2007, the Roberts Institute of Art operated as the David Roberts Art Foundation (DRAF) until April 2021. Named after its founder David Roberts, DRAF was set up as a platform for artistic and critical experimentation and to share what was then known as the David Roberts Collection and is now called the David and Indrė Roberts Collection.
DRAF originally ran an exhibition space on Great Titchfield Street, central London, presenting group and solo exhibitions and hosting talks and performances. The annual Evening of Performances (2008–2019), which showcases and commissions live work by artists, musicians and choreographers, was inaugurated here. The Curators’ Series (2009–2020) was also established to support curatorial research and practices. Over its eleven-year period, DRAF invited independent curators, duos and organisations to develop and deliver thematic exhibitions with newly commissioned works.
In 2012 the organisation moved to a former 19th-century furniture factory in Camden, north London. In this larger space, DRAF supported the research, development and display of live-art practices, presented exhibitions and established a forum for discussion and knowledge sharing.
Committed to championing performance and research from the outset, between 2015 and 2017 the Camden gallery also housed DRAF Studio, which brought together and hosted in residence artists, choreographers, musicians, writers and peer organisations to discuss and develop live work and installation.
After DRAF’s ten-year anniversary, the Camden space closed in late 2017 with the aim of sharing the organisation’s programming more widely. During the DRAF years, we welcomed over 135,000 visitors, partnered with more than 100 museums and organisations, and collaborated with over 1,000 artists.
The Roberts Institute of Art has since embarked on a new phase as we strengthen our mission to share the collection, include diverse perspectives on culture and work collaboratively with national partners.
Since 2021, RIA has reached over 127,000 audiences through our exhibition and performance programme. We have collaborated with over 25 museums and cultural organisations and commissioned over 80 artists, choreographers, musicians, dancers and performers to present new performances to live audiences, resulting in 15 new commissions. During this time, we have also loaned close to 300 works from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection to over 50 institutions worldwide.
