Asialink Arts Residencies 2015 Newsletter

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AUSTRALIAN ARTS PROFESSIONALS TO ASIA ASIALINK’S FIRST EVER RESIDENTS TO TURKEY & MYANMAR CAITLIN FRANZMANN (QLD) TORNA GALLERY, ISTANBUL Caitlin Franzmann’s work is centred around observations of urban environments and the complexity of human experience. She creates architectural interventions and participatory installations to encourage slowness, curiosity and social interaction. At torna gallery, an artist led space in Kadikoy – the Asian side of Istanbul, Caitlin researched Arduino technology and alternative presentation methods. Caitlin collaborated with local practitioners in developing work for a solo exhibition at torna, and worked with a local printmaker on an accompanying publication. This exhibition was later presented at Metro Arts in Brisbane and selected works shown in Primavera 14 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. In 2015 Caitlin hopes to collaborate with torna gallery owner Merve Kaptan on a public soundscape project for the Year of Australia in Turkey Festival. SUPPORTED BY ARTS QUEENSLAND

MICHELLE AUNG-THIN (VIC) NEW ZERO ART SPACE, MYANMAR

RESIDENCY HIGHLIGHTS

2014

Michelle Aung-Thin’s first novel, The Monsoon Bride, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards as an unpublished manuscript and won a Readings Foundation/Wheeler Centre Fellowship. Michelle was born in Burma, emigrated to Canada as a young child, and now lives in Melbourne. At New Zero Art Space Michelle worked on her second book about Myanmar, combining historical and travel writing with personal essay form. She gave a series of public workshops and seminars and connected Australian and Burmese artists for future exchange opportunities. SUPPORTED BY CREATIVE VICTORIA

ASIALINK

ARTS RESIDENCIES

2015

RESIDENCY LABORATORY KERJASAMA: INDIGENOUS AND REGIONAL RESIDENCIES BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND INDONESIA Kerjasama (Collaborate) was a pilot Indigenous-focused reciprocal residency, designed to increase understanding of Indigenous artistic traditions and communities in regional Australia and Indonesia. The residency placed an Indonesian artist with Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring, Alice Springs and an Australian Indigenous artist at Cemeti Art House, Indonesia. Indigenous artist Reko Rennie and Indonesian artist Akiq AW were the first recipients of this opportunity. This was the first international residency for both artists.

REKO RENNIE (VIC) CEMETI ART HOUSE, YOGYAKARTA Reko Rennie is an interdisciplinary artist who explores his Aboriginal identity through contemporary media. Reko’s art incorporates his association to the Kamilaroi people, using traditional geometric patterning that represents his community. At Cemeti Art House Reko collaborated with local artists and community on a new body of work exhibited in Warriors Come Out to Play. The video, sculpture and textile works incorporated Rennie’s distinctive symbols and colour palette that relate his Aboriginal heritage and upbringing in Melbourne’s inner west.

AKIQ AW (YOGYAKARTA) ARTBACK NT: ARTS DEVELOPMENT AND TOURING, ALICE SPRINGS Indonesian artist Akiq AW works across photography, video and installation. His practice focuses on how humans face everyday life by way of the technologies and inventions they have created. Akiq spent three months at Artback NT, where he explored the concept of private and public borders, culminating in the collaborative exhibition Borders at artist-run gallery Watch This SPACE, Alice Springs. As a result of his residency Akiq was invited to return to Australia to exhibit Borders v 2.0 at Chan Contemporary Art Space, Darwin, and was asked to speak at the international forum Trading Ideas: Creative Investment between the Northern Territory and Asia-Pacific. SUPPORTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PROGRAM, AN INITIATIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AND ARTS NT

2015 ASIALINK ARTS NEWS EDITORIAL

KNOWLEDGE AND NETWORKS

EXPLORING CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT IN A DIGITAL AGE I am pleased to introduce the 2015 Asialink Arts Residents and congratulate them on their selection in a highly competitive process. My theme for the 2015 newsletter is recognising the important role that digital technologies can play in enhancing and sharing the residency experience. In order to participate in the current exponential growth and development occurring in Asia, Australia needs to demonstrate innovation and facility with digital technology. Likewise it is important to recognise the increasingly active and participatory role of the audience and public in cultural engagement, particularly through digital technologies. Some of the most profound and enduring outcomes of arts residencies are the relationships and networks generated through the extensive people to people contacts and interactions that occur through both formal and structured introductions. The many serendipitous opportunities that occur through an intensive period of cultural immersion are an important aspect of this. Asialink Arts research has shown that a very high proportion of these networks and relationships are maintained for many years post-residency and indeed often lead to new opportunities. Maintaining these relationships and networks is easier in the new digital age, particularly with the increased use of social media to document and share experiences. We are also keen to explore new models for creative content that might only exist in digital format. This might take the form of ‘virtual’ residencies between Asian and Australian partners, or collaborative projects between multinational residencies. We are excited that Asialink Arts has been awarded an Australia Council ‘Geek-in-Residence’ to assist us with our digital strategy and projects during 2015. In 2014 the Asialink arts residency program continued to explore new models and opportunities for cultural exchange through its ‘Laboratory’ program. As part of our focus on Indonesia, we piloted a new reciprocal residency between an Indigenous Australian and an Indonesian artist. This residency partnership will be further developed in 2015. It is increasingly important to build sustainable relationships in the region through ongoing partnerships, rather than one-off projects. 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. Their commitment to and recognition of the importance of cultural exchange with Asia through residencies is highly valued and appreciated. Lesley Alway, Director Asialink Arts

ONE DAY ASIA-CAPABILITY ORIENTATION

ASIA-AUSTRALIA-EUROPE CREATIVE RESIDENCY NETWORK

RES ARTIS REGIONAL MEETING, LITHUANIA

Asialink has always connected Asialink Residency Alumni with new residents in sharing residency and Asia-specific expertise. This process was formalised in 2014 with Asialink’s first One Day Asia-Capability Orientation. The event formally welcomed new residents to the program and provided them with detailed training and information to prepare them for their Arts Residencies in Asia. New residents connected with Asialink Residency Alumni, who spoke about their experiences and provided invaluable information and first-hand stories to the new generation of arts leaders. The Orientation included information sessions, guest speakers, and breakout discussions.

Sponsored by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), Asialink Arts hosted a conference focusing on cultural mobility between Australia, Asia and Europe in May 2014. In partnership with Res Artis and On the Move, Asialink held meetings around the concepts of mapping, assessment, access and reciprocity. Fifty key cultural mobility funders and stakeholders from the three regions attended the meetings, resulting in the formation of the Asia-Australia-Europe Creative Residency Network. The program took place within the context of Next Wave biennial contemporary arts festival and IETM Asian Satellite Meeting.

International arts residencies association Res Artis held a regional meeting in Lithuania 2014, titled Escape and Engagement: Residencies as Hosts, Producers and Presenters from 2 – 5 October. The conference was attended by over 100 participants from 30 different countries. The meeting included keynotes, panel presentations, workshops and activities around the notion of residencies as an escape from daily life and the relevance of that in today’s fast-paced world. As Vice-President of Res Artis, Asialink’s Arts Residencies Manager, Eliza Roberts, provided the opening speech and gave several presentations and workshops around the theme of the conference.

The 2015 One Day Asia-Capability Orientation will be held in Sydney, hosted by Arts NSW.

Front Cover: Phillip Adams BalletLab, AVIARY, MONA FOMA Festival Hobart, 2012. Photo: Jeff Busby Back cover: Karla Dickens, The King and the Pirates 2012, collage on canvas, 90 x 120cm

Above: Arlene de Souza (aka TextaQueen), Sub-cultural charms (self portrait) 2012, fibre-tipped marker, coloured pencil and acrylic paint pen on Stonehenge cotton paper, 96.5 x 127cm Kevin Platt, Scripture/Cable Management 2014, neon and cabling

2015 RESIDENCY PROGRAM INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Congratulations to all 2015 Asialink Arts Residents on being selected from 313 applications nation-wide. We look forward to helping you realise the many outcomes, networks and new work that will stem from this opportunity. 2015 will see two residencies included in the Year of Australia in Turkey Festival. NT Arts Manager Angela O’Donnell will take up a residency with IKSV Istanbul Theatre Festival, while visual artist Brook Andrew and performing artist Phillip Adams (VIC) will collaborate with Artistic Director of the Modern Dance Project Group Istanbul and State Opera Ballet, Beyhan Murphy. Three new Asialink Host Partners will welcome arts residents this year. Architecturally designed by Ai Weiwei and established by internationally renowned photographers RongRong and inri, Three Shadows Centre for Photography in Beijing will host writer and filmmaker Nicholas Verso (VIC). Annabelle Collett

(SA) will source local found objects at New Space Arts Foundation in Vietnam to develop new sculptural works, while Common Room Networks Foundation in Bandung will work with Dan Mackinlay (WA) on new musical hybrids that fuse modern and traditional forms. Building on Asialink Arts’ involvement in the Setouchi Triennale 2013, we will again partner with Japan’s Art Front Gallery on a residency project as part of the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale 2015. Four members of performing arts group Snuff Puppets (VIC) will undertake a month-long residency at Australia House in Niigata prefecture, where they will work with the local community to develop a new performance piece that will be programmed into the Triennale. For the first time Asialink will partner with SymbioticA at the University of Western Australia and metaPhorest at Waseda University in Japan to trial a residency model that explores the relationship between art and science. Japanese artist Shiho Fukuhara will have

ASIALINK IS AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF RES ARTIS

access to state of the art scientific technologies and will participate in the Society of Literature, Science and the Arts conference hosted by SymbioticA in October.

Knowledge and Networks

2014 Residency Highlights

Left to Right:

Top to bottom:

Past Asialink Arts Resident Kate Ben-Tovim (Indonesia 2009) speaking at the inaugural One Day AsiaCapability Orientation, Melbourne 2014

Dr Michelle Aung-Thin

Participants of the inaugural meeting of the Asia-Australia-Europe Creative Residency Network, Melbourne 2014. Left to Right: Eliza Roberts - Asialink Arts Residencies Manager, Vice-President of Res-Artis, Mario A. Caro - President of Res-Artis, Warisa Somsuphangsri - Asialink Arts Residencies Assistant, Valentina Riccardi - Project Manager, Asia-Europe Foundation

Reko Rennie, Hahan painting Jono for shoot of Warriors Come Out to Play, Yogyakarta 2014

Caitlin Franzmann, Screenprinting with Zeynep in her studio, Istanbul 2014 Akiq AW, Borders, Watch This SPACE, Alice Springs 2014

Res Artis Regional Meeting, Escape and Engagement: Residencies as Hosts, Producers and Presenters, hosted by Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, 2 – 5 October 2014.

We look forward to welcoming all 2015 Asialink Arts Residents to the program at our One Day Asia- Capability Orientation to be held in Sydney at the offices of Arts NSW. This provides a great platform for new residents to connect with Asialink Arts Residency Alumni, to hear first-hand about their experiences and the ongoing impact that international residencies can have on an artist’s career and the communities involved. The outcomes of Asialink’s Arts Residency Program are both immediate and ongoing, and we are constantly impressed by what a relatively small amount of seed funding and a well-supported opportunity can achieve. Eliza Roberts, Arts Residencies Manager, Asialink

Sidney Myer Asia Centre The University of Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia T: 613 8344 4800 F: 613 9347 1768 www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au

facebook.com/asialink.arts @AsialinkArts @asialink_arts

Asialink Arts Residencies:

www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au/arts/residency_program


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