Arts Collaboratory

Setusamudurum Art Project (SAP), an ambitious undertaking by Theertha and 1 Shanthi Road, initiated in May 2010 when a group of Sri Lankan artists went to Bangalore to engage in discussions and meetings with artists and other key contributors and to hold the first good will exhibition to keep the art flow going between Sri Lanka and India.

Batiscafo is an independent artistic project that organizes a program of international residencies with the aim of stimulating exchange and dialogue between Cuban and Latin American artists.

The idea of establishing the ISP pilot was born out of Townhouse’s experience running curatorial workshops for the last two years and addressed the need to build a local base of individuals with the necessary knowledge to consider a career in the arts—whether in curating, critical writing, research or academia. By maintaining a strong focus on the rich and diverse art histories of the Middle East, the ISP aimed to facilitate regional knowledge-sharing while feeding into Townhouse’s efforts to build an archive of contemporary art practices in the region.

From July 28 till August 9, 2009 OK.Video was held for the fourth time in the National Gallery of Indonesia. With the aim of addressing the socio-cultural phenomena of Indonesia and abroad, each festival is organized around a particular theme. The chosen theme for the latest edition of the Festival was that of ‘Comedy’.

From October until December 2009, Hotel MariaKapel worked in close collaboration with artists from ArtBakery (Douala / Cameroon). The idea of HMK and Art Bakery eloping together was to temporary enter into a close relationship with a friendly institution abroad, hoping to broaden the horizon of all involved by literally having to work within each others structures and by selecting artists for the other institution to work with.

Since 1991, Doual’art has been organizing art projects in the city of Douala in Cameroon. Marilyn Douala-Bell, founder and director of Doual’art, was in the Netherlands in June for a preliminary showing of the SUD 2010 program, an international art event that will be held in Douala from 4 - 11 December.

From the 6th till the 8th of February 2008, Showroom MAMA presented Project(OR) Art Fair which took place parallel to the Art Rotterdam international art fair.

The aim of the Visiting Artists’ Residency at Greatmore Studios is to facilitate cultural exchange and creative dialogue by bringing together international and local artists in a stimulating and supportive environment.

With the aim of building up to the P.A.P.A. Platform (which will be launched in September 2010), they have organized a series of P.A.P.A. Labs where artists and photojournalists look for equivalents in situations and events taking place in public space around the world in order to design ‘new’ news categories.

ARAB MEDIA LAB CENTRE is the first media arts platform of its kind, not only in Morocco, but within the Arab world. Conceptualized as an independent space for the exhibition of Media arts, it offers possibilities for work production - from digital experimentations to digital independent filmmaking – as well as workshops and art residencies.

Through its activities Triangle Arts Trust encourages experimentation, artists' mobility, exchange, and fresh thinking; with an emphasis on process and professional development. Following their mission of stimulating exchange of ideas between artists from different backgrounds, cultures and geographical locations, the Trust is coordinating the Knowledge and Skills Sharing Residency Programme. This programme aims to increase knowledge and skills on arts management within the participating organisations.

Within the context of On Independence and the Ambivalence of Promise, CCA Lagos is organizing a series of activities and events. One of these was the ambitious International Art Photography Residency (February – March 2010) that sought to explore the ever-evolving aesthetic, conceptual and technical potential of art photography.

The Sala de Estar (“Living Room”) is a platform for the development of diverse activities related to the production, circulation, difussion, and collection of documents pertaining to contemporary artistic practices. A series of workshops, talks and seminars are organized within this space with the purpose of stimulating critical thought, curatorial practice, historical research, critical production, and desktop publishing.

The 1st Urban Wasanii international artist’s workshop was organised by Kuona Arts Trust in 2008 as a way of interrogating and interacting with local urban dwellers and urban public space in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

Since January 2010, Townhouse Gallery has been running an Independent Study Program (ISP) which focuses on the history and historiography of modern and contemporary art in the Middle East.

Being the most ambitious exhibition ever organised by Britto and the first New Media festival of its kind in Bangladesh, the Britto New Media Festival 2009 has been a groundbreaking event. It attracted the interest of many students and young artists whom, as a consequence, have started to consider the advantages of incorporating technology in their works.

Since 2008, Kiosko has also invited international curators to share their residency with Bolivian artists. This Curator-in-Residence programme, which takes place once per year, is critical to the improvement of the artistic practice in Santa Cruz as it provides local artists the opportunity to exchange ideas and benefit from the the curators’ broad knowledge on international contemporary artistic practices and debates.

Moviendo el Mapa (Moving the Map) was conceived as an artistic platform that aimed at consolidating negotiation strategies between cultural organizations and independent initiatives as well as a space for dialogue and artistic exchange within the local and regional context.

Like many others who experience a great sense of displacement from living with limited and fragmented information about their culture and heritage, for British/Jamaican visual artist born in the United Kingdom - Kevin Dalton Johnson - his four-week stay in Mali (April - May 2010) can be summed up as a return to the place of origin.

In an attempt to connect with the larger public and minority groups, KHOJ organises a sustained Community-Based Art Programme which sometimes fall under the broader umbrella of the Associate Residency Program. One example of this community arts project was the Ghoomakkad Toli led by Mrinmoyee Majumdar, a performer and arts-based therapist based in Delhi.