Luminary: Remembering Robert Foster
Friends and colleagues from the ACT, across Australia and around the world, join Robert Foster’s family in remembering the extraordinary contribution this wonderful man made to our lives. Following the tragic accident that took his life on 13 July in 2016, Craft ACT offers a celebration, with affection and admiration, of his continuing influence as a luminary example, in every way. An imaginative and resourceful designer and maker working with metals and related materials, ‘Robbie’ (1962–2016) became well-known from the mid-1980s for his expressive and yet functional and exceptionally crafted hand-made forms, as well as for the innovative designs he developed for production through his company F!NK + Co, founded in 1994 and now operating in Queanbeyan. His many commissions include The Journey, a spectacular group of ‘ossolites’ installed in the foyer of ActewAGL headquarters, Canberra city, in 2010. Supported since 1997 by his enterprising partner, Gretel Harrison, and enthused by his daughters, Ineska and Mischa, Robert constantly experimented with ideas for new forms and processes. He believed strongly in the value of working between art and manufacture, fun and function, materials and processes, expression and sustainability. Luminary: Remembering Robert Foster is significant in that, apart from the now iconic F!NK Water Jugs,every work has been hand-made by Robert himself, as a one-off item or prototype for production. Craft ACT is especially grateful for the loan of all these unique works from the personal collection of his family. Robert also encouraged many emerging makers to work with him, and some evolved designs that were produced through the F!NK brand and identified with their names. They, and many others, acknowledge the importance of his generous mentorship in the development of their careers.
Friends and colleagues from the ACT, across Australia and around the world, join Robert Foster’s family in remembering the extraordinary contribution this wonderful man made to our lives. Following the tragic accident that took his life on 13 July in 2016, Craft ACT offers a celebration, with affection and admiration, of his continuing influence as a luminary example, in every way.
An imaginative and resourceful designer and maker working with metals and related materials, ‘Robbie’ (1962–2016) became well-known from the mid-1980s for his expressive and yet functional and exceptionally crafted hand-made forms, as well as for the innovative designs he developed for production through his company F!NK + Co, founded in 1994 and now operating in Queanbeyan. His many commissions include The Journey, a spectacular group of ‘ossolites’ installed in the foyer of ActewAGL headquarters, Canberra city, in 2010.
Supported since 1997 by his enterprising partner, Gretel Harrison, and enthused by his daughters, Ineska and Mischa, Robert constantly experimented with ideas for new forms and processes. He believed strongly in the value of working between art and manufacture, fun and function, materials and processes, expression and sustainability.
Luminary: Remembering Robert Foster is significant in that, apart from the now iconic F!NK Water Jugs,every work has been hand-made by Robert himself, as a one-off item or prototype for production. Craft ACT is especially grateful for the loan of all these unique works from the personal collection of his family.
Robert also encouraged many emerging makers to work with him, and some evolved designs that were produced through the F!NK brand and identified with their names. They, and many others, acknowledge the importance of his generous mentorship in the development of their careers.
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Craft ACT remembers <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong><br />
It was with the deepest regret and<br />
profound sadness that we learned of the<br />
passing of our friend <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> in July<br />
2016.<br />
Robbie was an iconic designer and<br />
silversmith, and a mentor, collaborator,<br />
leader, supporter, inspiration, and teacher;<br />
but he was also a true friend to so many<br />
people in both our professional and<br />
personal communities here in Canberra.<br />
<strong>Robert</strong> had been a Craft ACT Accredited<br />
Professional Member since 1993.<br />
We were devastated that such a great<br />
man and talent was taken from us too<br />
early. We gained some comfort from the<br />
knowledge that his legacy would endure.<br />
Robbie’s contribution is great, both near<br />
and far. There is a <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> F!NK<br />
jug in practically every second house in<br />
Canberra, yet his reach is international<br />
with sales in New York, London, Germany<br />
and beyond. He is revered and admired for<br />
his sculptural installations and exhibitions,<br />
and his work is held in major Australian<br />
and international collections.<br />
At Craft ACT, we wanted to celebrate<br />
<strong>Robert</strong>’s extraordinary contribution to<br />
contemporary craft and design, and<br />
our community. In our Civic gallery,<br />
we presented F!NK & Friends, which<br />
responded quickly and personally to the<br />
designer’s tragic passing. The F!NK &<br />
Co family, former associates of <strong>Robert</strong><br />
through his design practice, were invited<br />
to contribute an item that, for them,<br />
captured the spirit of <strong>Robert</strong>’s practice.<br />
Geoffrey Cossick, Chair of the UK Crafts<br />
Council, visited the exhibition and wrote<br />
in response, ‘it is when craft, making and<br />
memory come together that the power of<br />
an object can become so compelling’.<br />
As the centrepiece of the 2016 DESIGN<br />
Canberra festival, I commissioned<br />
<strong>Luminary</strong>: <strong>Remembering</strong> <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong>,<br />
curated by Grace Cochrane. It was<br />
the most visible and celebrated of the<br />
exhibitions in DESIGN Canberra for that<br />
year, and became the venue for the festival<br />
opening event and a number of artist talks.<br />
A celebration of the life and achievements<br />
of a local design icon, the exhibition<br />
encompassed <strong>Robert</strong>’s work, both from<br />
F!NK and from his personal collection. The<br />
exhibition was set among The Journey,<br />
his spectacular installation of ‘ossolites’<br />
in the headquarters of ActewAGL, which<br />
supported the exhibition together with<br />
Vince Frost. As well as the 49 pieces<br />
handmade by <strong>Robert</strong> from 1987 to 2016,<br />
the exhibition included 50 F!NK jugs that<br />
were loaned to the exhibition by members<br />
of the community.<br />
<strong>Robert</strong>’s legacy endures. F!NK, now<br />
spearheaded by his partner Gretel<br />
Harrison, remains a leader in our city’s<br />
art, craft and design landscape. F!NK was<br />
made a lifetime member of Craft ACT in<br />
2018, in recognition of their extraordinary<br />
support of the organisation and our<br />
community.<br />
I am delighted that as part of Craft<br />
ACT’s 50th anniversary, we are able to<br />
retrospectively produce this beautiful<br />
catalogue to record the two exhibitions<br />
curated in <strong>Robert</strong>’s honour in 2016.<br />
Rachael Coghlan<br />
CEO + Artistic Director<br />
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre<br />
April 2021<br />
Page 6: <strong>Luminary</strong> exhibition poster, designed by<br />
Lou Scrivener, photography by DMC Photography<br />
7
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