Brexit is against spirit of London arts, says head of Alexander McQueen charity

Trino Verkade, head of the Sarabande Foundation, said times were tough enough for young artists in London due to high rents
Rex Features

London could find it more difficult to attract top creative talent after Brexit, the head of Alexander McQueen’s foundation for emerging artists fears.

Trino Verkade, described as the late designer’s right-hand woman who worked with him for most of his career, said the collaborative nature of the arts was at odds with the idea of leaving the European Union.

“I do not want to speculate and there is so much that is unknown,” she said. “London is the centre of the artistic world, so we are of course all worried.

“Creative vision is so much about collaboration, which Brexit is not about. I think if it gets in the way of that collaboration, then it will be an issue.

“London is such a great city. We all grew up in this city. It was and is so creative and I love being a part of it. It would be dreadful if that would change.”

Verkade is CEO of the Sarabande Foundation. It was set up in 2007 by McQueen, three years before he committed suicide aged 40. Sarabande is the name of a 17th century form of Spanish dance and lent its name to the designer’s spring/summer 2007 collection.

The foundation offers scholarships to art students and provides them with studios at a discounted rate. Alumnae of the programme include designers Molly Goddard and Serena Gili, while patrons include Naomi Campbell, photographer Nick Knight and director Sam Taylor-Johnson. Verkade said McQueen, the son of an East End taxi driver, would have spoken out about Brexit.

“Lee would be vocal about his thoughts for sure,” she said. “He was fearless like that. I cannot speak for him, obviously, but he would be very vocal about his thoughts on Brexit, he would be speaking about it a lot and the issues.”

Verkade said supporting emerging British artists was more important than ever due to increasing rents for studio space in typically “artistic areas” of the capital. “For sure in London it is tough as an artist,” she said. “Finding the money to rent studios is tough. In the last 10 to 20 years there has been a lot of gentrification in areas that typically were artists’ areas. It is really tough. Sarabande was created to help the creative industries and support them.”

Other artists currently supported by Sarabande include Tenant of Culture, otherwise known as Hendrickje Schimmel, and Judas Companion, or Jasmin Reif. They were commissioned to create artworks for Ketel One Vodka, which will be displayed this month at the Sarabande studios in Haggerston. Based on elements of the vodka-making process, the works were centred on a pair of gloves and a mask.

Verkade added: “Ketel One are one of our main sponsors. They have a similar vision, they are a family business and they are about legacy. In a way they are artists, so they see the value in supporting art themselves.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in