AUSTRALIAN ARTS PROFESSIONALS TO ASIA CAITLIN MACKENZIE & GABRIEL COMERFORD (QLD) RIMBUN DAHAN, KUANG, MALAYSIA Caitlin is a dance practitioner working in performance, installation and choreography, and is the Co-founder of MakeShift Dance Collective. Gabriel is an independent dance performer, choreographer and teacher. During their residency at Rimbun Dahan, located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the collaborative duo researched Gabriel’s Malaysian heritage and embedded themselves in their studio to experiment and take risks in their practice. The pair performed at DanceBox (Kuala Lumpur), the Melaka Arts and Performance Festival (Melaka), and the Asia Pacific Impro! Festival (Selangor). Caitlin and Gabriel collaborated with local Chinese-Malaysian musician, Alubakhan Chen, to develop a full-length interdisciplinary performance, combining contemporary dance with the wide variety of instruments within Chen’s musical vocabulary. SUPPORTED BY ARTS QUEENSLAND AND THE AUSTRALIA-MALAYSIA INSTITUTE Caitlin in the studio at Rimbun Dahan – the beginning seed of the work Uncommon Ground.
ALAN CARTER (WA) SHANGHAI WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION, SHANGHAI, CHINA Alan Carter’s debut crime novel, PRIME CUT won the prestigious Ned Kelly Crime Writing Award in 2011 for Best First Fiction and was also shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award in 2010. At the Shanghai Writers’ Association (SWA), Alan researched and drafted his third crime fiction novel, set partly in and around Shanghai. He was one of eight International writers invited to participate in the Shanghai Writers Festival, the others being from Belgium, Ireland, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, Cuba and India. During his residency Alan provided talks and readings at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Fudan University and Si’nan Literature House. His presence in the festival attracted articles in the Shanghai Daily, Global Times and Shanghai News.
2013
Residency Highlights
SUPPORTED BY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE AND THE ARTS, WA
Above left: Jess Johnson, Tokyo Wonder Site studio, 2013 Above right: Reading and seminar on the theme of Breath at Shanghai Writers Festival. Right to left: Denyse Woods (Ireland), Alan Carter (Australia), Anjali Joseph (India), and festival moderators.
ASIALINK Arts R e s i de nc ie s
JESS JOHNSON (VIC) TOKYO WONDER SITE, JAPAN
2014
Jess Johnson’s drawing and installation practice is inspired by themes of science fiction, mythological cosmology and comic books. Her three month residency at Tokyo Wonder Site provided invaluable stimuli for deeper examinations into various Japanese sub-cultures including Manga, alternative art scenes and independent publishing. Jess produced a substantial new series of drawings during her residency which have since been shown in the prestigious Primavera 2013 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and Melbourne Now at the National Gallery of Victoria. SUPPORTED BY ARTS VICTORIA AND THE AUSTRALIA-JAPAN FOUNDATION
KYLE PAGE & AMBER HAINES (SA) KRITI GALLERY, VARANASI, INDIA Kyle Page and Amber Haines hold solo and collaborative practices as dancers and choreographers. The pair joined Australian Dance Theatre in 2009. At Kriti Gallery in Varanasi Kyle and Amber hosted workshops at 5678 Dance Academy and at the Saraswati Education Centre for street and slum children. Kyle and Amber presented an installation piece where they floated the set of their work, Syncing Feeling, along the ghats on a double decker boat. They premiered the performance of the same work at Kriti Gallery, followed by feedback and evaluation sessions. SUPPORTED BY ARTS SA
KIEREN SANDERSON (NT) CEMETI ART HOUSE, YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA Kieren Sanderson is an arts manager, producer, instigator and curator. Personal and social memory, history, language, public and private space and identity inspire her work. In 2012 Kieren undertook a self-devised professional development placement at the Australian High Commission in Delhi to assist in the delivery of the Australian cultural festival, Oz Fest India 2012. Following on from her time in India, Kieren spent her residency in Yokyakarta developing and launching a website, presentation and exhibition called the Di Sana Project. The Di Sana project is a transcontinental, multi-platform exchange across India, Indonesia and Australia. The Di Sana Project website acts as a virtual repository for creative dialogue, participation and collaboration: www.disanaproject.com.
PILAR MATA DUPONT (WA) GOYANG ART STUDIO, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, KOREA Pilar Mata Dupont is a multidisciplinary artist working mainly in photography and film. Her work uses storytelling to re-imagine collected memories, histories and mythologies. It investigates the genre of magic realism as a device to explore the effects of colonialism, nationalism and militarised societies. At Goyang Art Studio, Pilar created a short video work titled The Embrace (이상적인 포옹), which deals with issues of reunification between South and North Korea. The work has since been exhibited at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery in Perth, Goyang Studio Gallery in Korea and the New Material Art Fair, Miami Beach, US. SUPPORTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE AND THE ARTS, WA AND THE AUSTRALIAKOREA FOUNDATION
SUPPORTED BY ARTS NT AND THE AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA INSTITUTE Top: Kieren Sanderson, Di Sana Project , 2014 Left: Kyle Page and Amber Haines performing Syncing Feeling, Kriti Gallery, Varanasi. Right: Production photo filming The Embrace. Left to right: Lim Sora, Choi Moon, Lee Seongtaek, Lee Minjoon, Lee Jonghyeok. Photo: Pilar Mata Dupont.
Front cover: Kenji Uranishi, Sanctuary, 2013, installation made of slab built porcelain with inlay and coloured glaze
Back cover: Jessica Dare, Conceptual flowering plant series, 2013, lampwork glass Photo: Grant Hancock
2014 ASIALINK ARTS NEWS EDITORIAL “On the Ground and In the Know”: Valuing arts residencies in Asia It gives me great pleasure to introduce the 2014 Asialink Arts Residents and highlight some of the residency achievements during 2013. The development of ‘international capability’ is as important for the cultural sector as it is for any other sector of the economy and society. Recent research undertaken by Asialink Arts in partnership with Arts Victoria has highlighted the fact that successful cultural engagement with Asia requires a long term commitment and substantial investment. Likewise, long term relationships require repeat visitation, people-to-people communication and opportunities for two-way exchange and collaboration*. Recent international studies of best practice and contemporary trends in international cultural exchange reiterate these points. There should really be no surprises here as reviews of success factors for Australian business in Asia also point to the need to build relationships to operate effectively in a completely different environment and management paradigm. For the cultural sector, arts residencies can play an important role in developing long term relationships and building knowledge, skills and networks for artists and arts managers to work confidently in Asia and with Asian partners. During 2013, the Asialink arts residency program continued to evolve and explore new models and opportunities for cultural exchange through its ‘Laboratory’ program. It established a new reciprocal residency partnership between IASKA in Western
Australia and 1. Shanthiroad, Bangalore in India, and we worked with the Victorian College of the Arts as a new host partner in Melbourne. A major highlight was the participation of the Asialink residency program in the 2013 Setouchi Triennale through the Fukatake House Asia Art Platform that hosted both the artist Jackson Slattery and chef Andrew McConnell ‘in residence’ on the island of Shodoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. The residency program is made possible through the ongoing support of many partners. In particular, I would like to thank the Australia Council for the Arts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and all State and Territory governments as well as the Malcolm Robertson Foundation. A number of partners have increased their support for 2014 demonstrating their commitment and recognition of the value of arts residencies in Asia.
This round we received 286 applications to the program nationwide, and were able to allocate 30 residencies to Asia, based on available funding. In 2014 the Asialink Arts Residency Program collapsed art form areas to open up the round to practitioners working in and across all areas of practice. This step was initiated as a result of sector feedback. In another first, Asialink will host a one-day Asia Capability Orientation at Asialink’s offices in Melbourne on 20 February. This will formally welcome all 2014 arts residents to the program and enable them to meet each other as well as Asialink Arts Residency Alumni. The orientation day is aimed at preparing
Left to right: Past Asialink Arts Resident Chris Cobilis (Taipei, 2011) in concert with Peiju Lien, Fremantle Arts Centre, 2013
Lesley Alway, Director, Asialink Arts
RECIPROCAL RESIDENCIES
*On the Ground and In the Know: The Victoria – Asia Cultural Engagement Research Report 2013 is available at www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au/arts/artsresearchreport_vic
ISHU HAN (JAPAN) VICTORIAN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
PEIJU LIEN (TAIWAN)
Born in Shanghai, Ishu Han now lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. During his three month residency at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Han examined Chinese migration to Australia, the discovery of gold in Victoria during the 1850s, and the legacy of these histories. Drawing from this research and an experience of place, Ishu Han developed the exhibition Study Country, which investigated notions of ‘identity’ in contemporary art. The exhibition, comprising a soundscape, photographic triptych and installation piece of 200 collected and hand-painted rocks, was exhibited at VCA’s Student Gallery. An abbreviated form of the exhibition was later exhibited in the foyer of Arts Victoria.
Based in Taipei, Peiju Lien is a contemporary musician of the Pipa – an ancient Chinese stringed instrument. A composer, producer and performer, she has worked across many genres including traditional Chinese music, Chinese opera, world and pop music. During her time at the Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC), Peiju collaborated with local musicians on a number of contemporary compositions and new arrangements. This resulted in the farewell concert Journey on the road: Peiju and her new friends, performed at FAC. The diverse range of musicians involved in this unusual musical and cultural exchange included double bassist Gavin Shoesmith, Japanese didgeridoo player Sanshi, percussionist Aranuchala and local experimental musician Chris Cobilis, a former Asialink Resident to Taiwan.
2014 RESIDENCY PROGRAM INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Welcome and congratulations to Asialink’s new 2014 Arts Residents. We look forward to working with you to realise your residency goals.
Ishu Han, Study Country, Arts Victoria foyer, Melbourne 2013.
the ‘next generation’ of arts leaders to develop the skills, knowledge, networks and experience to work effectively and with confidence in Asia. 2014 will see Asialink Arts Residents taking up exchange opportunities throughout Asia, including at new host partners Ne’-Na Contemporary Art Space in Thailand, Kyoto Arts Centre, Japan and cherrycake studios, Malaysia. For the first time we will have arts residents in Myanmar and Turkey. The Arts Residency Laboratory, launched in 2012 to trial innovative models of cultural and artistic exchange, continues in 2014 with two new models. Kerjasama: Indigenous arts residencies in regional Australia and Indonesia will see Indigenous artist Reko Rennie undertake a residency at Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta. In return, Indonesian artist
Akiq Abdul Wahid will spend three months with Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring in Alice Springs. The second model in the Laboratory will be tested by Queensland artist Chris Bennie, who will spend time with Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, engaging with their founding research on the concept of Microresidencies – small-scale, grass roots residencies that value ongoing relationships and offer a deeper, more engaged alternative amidst increasing interest in arts residencies worldwide.
FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE, FREMANTLE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SUPPORTED BY ARTS VICTORIA
SUPPORTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE AND THE ARTS, WA
Asialink will continue our Reciprocal Residency program this year, adding Singapore’s The Art Incubator to the mix of host partners. Victorian Curator and Writer, Kyla McFarlane will trade places in Singapore with Singaporean multidisciplinary artist Angie Seah, who will undertake her residency at the Victorian College of the Arts. Eliza Roberts, Arts Residencies Manager, Asialink
RESIDENCY LABORATORY FUKUTAKE HOUSE ASIA ART PLATFORM: SETOUCHI TRIENNALE 2013, JAPAN Together with six Asian arts residency centres, Asialink participated in the Fukutake House Asia Art Platform, Setouchi Triennale, Japan. The Setouchi Triennale is an international arts festival held over 12 islands in the Seto Inland Sea. It aims to encourage visitation to the islands, which are losing their unique characteristics due to declining economies and an ageing population. Based on attendance figures, this use of art for social change is working. In 2013 more than 1, 070,000 people attended the festival. The Fukutake House Asia Art Platform utilised art and food to question, ‘How have we, Asian regions, faced the globalisation?’ Each participating country was asked to respond to this theme by way of an artist residency and exhibition; a chef workshop; and symposium. Asialink invited Jackson Slattery and Andrew McConnell as artist and chef in-residence respectively.
The site of this residency was poignant – an abandoned elementary school that reminded us of the plight of the island where the average age is 65. As a universal symbol for future ambition, the school was a monument to the predicament of the island, but at the same time, it served to re-energise the local community through its reincarnation as the venue for this platform. Fukutake House Asia Art Platform involved wide-spread collaboration over an intense period, resulting in real and ongoing friendships. It was a residency model that embraced art and food as universal mechanisms that transcend cultural and language barriers, to discuss a global issue. SUPPORTED BY THE AUSTRALIA-JAPAN FOUNDATION, THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY, TOKYO AND THE FUKUTAKE FOUNDATION, JAPAN Left to right: Board Member of the Australia-Japan Foundation Melanie Brock, Australian Ambassador to Japan Bruce Miller, Artist Jackson Slattery, Curator Eliza Roberts, Director, Asialink Arts Lesley Alway. Photo: Kanagawa Shingo Jackson Slattery, Monument Within A Sculpture: Part 1, maple plywood, acrylic paint, fibreglass, balsa wood, resin and found vase. Photo: Kanagawa Shingo
Asialink is an Associate Member of Res Artis
Left to right: Executive Chef Andrew McConnell and Chef John Paul Twomey, Chef Workshop with local Shodoshima participants. Photo: Eliza Roberts
Sidney Myer Asia Centre The University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia T: 613 8344 4800 F: 613 9347 1768
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