Best In Show is an annual exhibition committed to providing a selection of emerging and outstanding New Zealand craft and design practitioners. 2008 is the fourth incarnation in this ongoing series. For Best In Show 2008 we are very pleased to present fifteen recently graduated makers, artists and designers working in jewellery, furniture, product, object, fashion, art and textiles, whose conceptual and material resolve reflects a high standard of design.

The selection process for Best In Show is an unwieldy but highly rewarding task involving Objectspace staffers navigating as many end of year graduate exhibitions as possible and liaising with graduates and institutional staff, before developing a short list of candidates. Objectspace is a great platform for these new makers to showcase the outcome of their intensive studies. The Best In Show format has proven to be a valuable exhibition and promotional opportunity for all of those involved to date, many of whom have received considerable attention and media focus in their subsequent activities.

A small nation well known for our can-do spirit, this attitude is reflected in the inventiveness and intuitive nature of our art and design heritage, as the steadily growing number of graduates emerging from craft and design programmes and establishing successful careers attests. Recent developments have seen a number of New Zealand art and design schools forced to consider the amalgamation of departments and programmes. In light of the above successes, it will be important to monitor the effect these changes will have upon the creative sector in the near future, particularly within individual disciplines.

Objectspace would like to congratulate and thank all of the makers for their involvement and commitment to Best In Show 2008. We wish you all the very best in your future careers and endeavours. The Institutions featuring graduates in Best In Show 2008 are: AUT School of Art and Design, Elam School of Fine Arts, Manukau School of Visual Arts, Massey University School of Design, Otago Polytechnic School of Art, Unitec School of Design, Whitecliffe College. We would like to warmly acknowledge the support and assistance of all of the above institutions and their representatives, without whom Best In Show would not be possible.

Makers:

Lillian Berado Grondine, Kat Buckland, Emilia Caballero, Amber Chin, Antony Clark, Scott Facer, Sharon Fitness, Laura Ford, Kent Hodgson, Guy Hohmann, Gabrielle Muir, Nikki Partridge, Monica Seo, Jaime Turnbull, Roxanna Zamani