(Full version, latest update: August 2012)

 

What is the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

The WHO’S WHO Art club international was born from more than thirty years of experience in the field of publishing and the organising of exhibitions, salons and fairs in relation to the visual arts, thanks to the collaborators and partners of the company ART Développement ADT SA (Geneva), of which it is a branch. Under a collective name (The Editorial Staff), they draw bridges between the arts of yesteryear and to-day’s artists, between nascent works and time-honoured creations, between artistic practices and art passions. The artists are not compared between them on the basis of common aesthetic criteria but according to their individual path. Support and exchange replace the competition and commercial valuation of the art market; meeting with the public doesn’t exclude meeting art lovers, be they beginners or experts. The bridges thus created form the Network of Artist Members and Friends of the WHO’S WHO Art club international, present on every continent.

Who are the Artist Friends of the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

The WHO’S WHO Art club international editorial staff, with the collaboration of its partners and correspondents, regularly sets up visits to exhibitions, salons, fairs and websites.  Equally, as artists spontaneously contact the staff to submit printed or digital reproductions of their works, the latter discovers artists with different paths but all sharing the same passion for creation and the same desire to meet the public. It is those ‘active’ artists who are selected by the editorial staff to take part in the support activities organised under the WHO’S WHO Art club international banner. After agreeing to it, each one of them then becomes, free of charge, an Artist Friend of the WHO’S WHO Art club international. This admission is published in the Official Directory of Artist Friends available on line on www.whoswhoart.com.

The Artist Friends thus joins the Network of Artist Members and Friends of the WHO’S WHO Art club international that covers all the continents.

What support activities is an Artist Friend entitled to?

The editorial staff organises exhibitions in venues that are selected due to their high number of visitors, or because of the charm of the locality or area, often historical, in which they are set. The other criteria for the choice of exhibition spaces are often related to specific themes or programmes, and sometimes to collaborations that are proper to the place. The editorial staff has also been publishing for more than 25 years the international biographical guide known as WHO'S WHO IN INTERNATIONAL ART, reserved to art lovers, distributors and students. A collection of art cards called “Masters and Artists, with the passing of time” complements this publication (in relation, more often than not, with the end of year celebrations but not every year). There are also one-off printed or digital works, depending on the projects under study.

The support activities being reserved first and foremost to Artist Members, the Artist Friends may take part in them according to space availability.

As from 2011, the editorial staff gathers the Artist Friends and the Artist Members once a year, in an evening around a guest of honour and/or an event organised to this effect.

Who are the Artist Members of the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

An Artist Friend may apply to the WHO’S WHO Art club international for membership provided he/she has taken part in at least one of the support activities organised by the editorial staff since 2008.

The application is sent to the editorial staff, which then gives its reply within thirty days.

For its part, the editorial staff itself proceeds to the designation of Artist Members by directly contacting some Artist Friends of its choice. This distinction is made definite if the artists in question give a positive answer.

Every Artist Member pays annual membership fees. Each membership is valid for twelve months. It can be renewed on mutual agreement, if the editorial staff and the artist wish so. From the second year onwards, membership fees are reduced.

Artist Members thus join the Network of Artist Members and Friends that covers all the continents and they contribute, directly or indirectly, to its dynamics, if not its influence.

What are the advantages and privileges of being an Artist Member?

Artist Members are given priority of enrolment for the activities organised by the editorial staff, whichever they are.

To this end, Artist Members get to know of the calendar of editorial events and activities confidentially and as soon as possible– and, in any case, always before Artist Friends. This way, they can organise themselves according to the other projects they may have on the go. From now on, the calendar can be consulted in the Members section.

They are systematically entitled to a reduction in the enrolment fees for the activities and, in some cases, to one or more services free of charge.

Besides, for twelve months there is a page devoted to them in the on-line catalogue called ‘Virtual galleries of Artist Members’ with the reproduction of three works either for sale or shown for information only, together with all the details needed for contact (name, surname, postal or electronic address and/or telephone and/or a personal or collective website with a link directed to ours). Any art lover can go directly to the page of the artist he/she is interested in by simply typing in the address box of the navigation toolbar the address allocated by the editorial staff to the said artist, i.e. name and surname (or pseudonym), followed by <.whoswhoart.com>, without having to add <www> and the dot before the address of the page (see example below).

The digital annual membership label bearing the name of the artist is published to allow Artist Members to use it freely both in digital messages and printed publications (business cards, invitations, etc.). E.g.: Jean Dupont, Artist Member of the WHO’S WHO Art club international jeandupont.whoswhoart.com 2012>March 2013.

Artist Members are mentioned as such to the public in all the activities in which they take part within the WHO’S WHO Art club international. This entitles them to also specify this distinction elsewhere, whenever possible.

Who may recommend an artist interested in the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

An Artist Member can submit to the editorial staff the application of an artist wishing to become an Artist Friend of the WHO'S WHO Art club international.  If his/her application is accepted and, as a result, he/she takes part in one of the support activities organised by the editorial staff, the boost thus given to one of his/her peers will exempt the Artist Member from paying the membership fees for the year in question. Besides, the Artist Member can submit the application of an artist who is already a Friend and wishes to become a Member. If this application is accepted by the editorial staff, it will allow the Artist Friend to pay the annual membership fees for 'proposed artists', in other words the fees applicable to the second year of membership.

This clause aims at encouraging Artist Members to also be actively involved with the WHO’S WHO Art club international by promoting their activities in association with those of other artists whom they appreciate. Their support is registered with the Proposing Committee detailed in the Members section (accessible only to Artist Members with a password).

Who can be an ambassador of the Network of Artist Members and Friends of the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

Artist Members who request it are given the opportunity to represent the WHO’S WHO Art club international in their town, region or country, on a voluntary basis and for one renewable year. As such, they provide the editorial staff with information on exhibition spaces, artists, publications, articles, critics, experiences and prominent figures of all kinds likely to be of interest to members or to the editorial staff for future projects. The information selected by the editorial staff is published on line in the space reserved to Members. 

Can Artist Members or Friends be excluded from the WHO’S WHO Art club international ?

The founding rule which governs the relations between artists of the WHO'S WHO Art club international on one hand, and between artists and the editorial staff on the other, can be summed up in one word: trust. It is vital for artists to respect each other's work, and essential for them to be, between themselves and with the editorial staff, exchanging knowledge and experiences that can benefit all. It is therefore imperious for the artists to have absolute trust in the editorial staff and, therefore, in the work it carries out in their favour. Whilst mistakes can always arise, they should not be repeated nor taken as or turn out to be spiteful acts against artists and/or the editorial staff. When joining the WHO'S WHO Art club international artists embody, through their behaviour as much as through their work, the whole network linked to the WHO'S WHO Art club international and contribute to its good name as strongly as the editorial staff through its own activities. This is why, should it turn out that an artist is failing to observe this rule in his/her behaviour towards another artist or the editorial staff, his/her exclusion may be required by the artist concerned or the editorial staff may decide it. If an artist makes a petition for it and his/her reasons are justified, the exclusion will be ordered by the editorial staff. In either case, the offending artist will be informed of his/her exclusion, which will be effective as soon as his/her yearly membership expires, in the case of an Artist Member, and at once or at the end of the activity he/she is involved in, in the case of an Artist Friend.