From 4th February until 1st June The Fan Museum in Greenwich takes a cool look at contemporary art with an exhibition of most unusual fan designs. All the fans on show were made over the last 25 years and are lent by members of the Fan Circle International, which sponsors the exhibition.

From being at first a ceremonial tool or a cult object, then a status symbol in the 17th century, by the end of the 18th century fans reflect the political upheavals which are taking place, from every step towards the French Revolution, to the flirting games and dances of the ladies taking the waters at Bath. In the 19th century we see a return to the opulence of fans as fashion accessories which again mirror their time, fluttering into the 20th century in the guise of advertising giveaways! Choreography has always and still does use fans, in Japan and in Spain in particular, and the influence of the East India Companies should not be forgotten as they brought the ever so popular Chinoiserie styles in 17th and 18th century Europe.

Fans have always inspired artists: Renowned artists such as Edouard Moreau, Odilon Redon, Gauguin, Caillebotte, Renoir, Degas, to name but a few, painted fan leaves. Mallarmé wrote poems on fans which he was giving as a token of friendship. Between 1912 and 1914 Kokoschka painted six fans which were love letters to Alma Malher.

The exhibition “Contemporary Fans” will show that the art of fan-making is very much alive and that artists are pushing even further the limits of what is a fan. Many designs actually cannot be used as fans but are simply extravagant objects or sculptures made of glass, wood, plastic or metal. Some of these fans were made by students from the forward looking Glasgow School of Art and Design for a competition in 2002. Other designers and artists are working within the constraints of what a fan is traditionally used for, but are becoming extremely imaginative and innovative in their techniques or simply display their talents by painting or carving beautiful designs onto a traditional Chinese folding fan shape.

Among the artists represented are Aafke Brouwer, a Dutch illustrator with a degree from the Royal College of Art, John Brooker, the only liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers still making fans (created a fan made of wood and Perspex with the skyline of the City of London), Beneyto from Spain, the extremely talented young Parisian createur Sylvain Le Guen who produces pieces which are both elegant and quirky, but also “wearable”, lace-makers such as Ann Collier and many others.

You will be surprised.

The catalogue will indicate the artists willing to carry out commissions and the museum will be able to forward their details on request.