Proto is the store at A4 Arts Foundation. Playing with the premise of the museum shop, the store collects tangible traces of art’s immaterial offerings, assembling thoughts, propositions, off-cuts and fragments. Positioned between the artist’s studio and an archive of projects at A4, Proto is a place where practitioners and publics meet. Gathering together original pieces, art books, vinyl, and contemporary artefacts, Proto is a space to collect, discover and interact with artistic practices and processes.

What does it mean to play with the idea of the ‘museum shop’?
The museum shop is a place to gather artefacts that ground the intangible experience of being around artworks in a museum. Call them souvenirs, totems, tshatshkes or memorabilia – at Proto, these things become a way to incarnate the strange, enlivening, disconcerting, even enlightening moments ‘looking at art’ inspires. 

The kinds of things that we keep at Proto are remnants that speak to these experiences. The shop is interested in fragments, offcuts, leftovers, proposals and propositions from around the artist’s studio that shed light on artistic processes and practices. Investing in working artists, Proto explores what happens behind the scenes and shares these processes in store. At the same time, the shop collects an object archive of the events, residencies and exhibitions at A4. 

What kinds of things does Proto stock?
1. The Specialised Selection includes artworks, design objects, rare and unusual things, small editions, as well as maquettes and remnants of processes.
2. The Utility Selection consists of stationery, postcards, keepsakes, and workable, usable items. 
3. We also trade rare books, as well as new publications, phonograph records (LPs), and zines.

What can I expect from Proto?
Proto is a place to become acquainted with young and emerging artists, explore studio environments, and collect and become a custodian of small artworks and curious objects. Every purchase at Proto ensures that you become a mini-patron of the arts, as your contribution goes directly towards A4 Arts Foundation’s mandate to support the arts ecology – offering our services to practitioners and providing access to publics.