YOU ARE HERE - RETHINKING RESIDENCIES
International seminar
Friday, June 7th 2013 at the Factory of Art and Design in Copenhagen, Denmark.
With this seminar, the Factory of Art and Design initiates a conversation with the aim of developing the urban residency format.
To help us do so, we’ve invited a panel of experts who will share their views on and experiences with residencies and in conjunction with the audience, we will explore the potential of the residency.
The outcome of You are Here – Rethinking Residencies will be published in an e-book following the seminar.
REGISTRATION
In order to attend the seminar please pay the registration fee to the account below and email your name and position/institution to fair@ffkd.dk
Arbejdernes Landsbank
5321 53210320625
SWIFT/BIC: ALBADKKK
IBAN: DK9753210000320625
The seminar registration fee is 300 DKK (regular ticket) or 100 DKK (members of Bkf and UKK, recipients of unemployment benefits and students) and includes lunch and coffee.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: June 4th 2013.
PROGRAMME
09:30 – 10:20 Coffee & registration
10:25 – 10:40 Welcome – project manager & curator Maria Gry Bregnbak
10:45-11:55 Presentations
Mathias Danbolt (moderator), PhD and professor, The Funen Art Academy.
Stine Hebert, art historian, rector, the Funen Art Academy.
Molly Haslund, artist, former artist in residence at FFKD.
Catherine Hoffmann, artist, former artist in residence at FFKD.
Taru Elfving, curator, PhD, Head of Programme, Frame, Helsinki.
Nicholas Laughlin, writer, editor, co-director, Alice Yard, Kings Port.
11:55-12:20 Performance: Requiem 21 by Molly & Me (Molly Haslund & Catherine Hoffmann)
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 14:45 Panel debate
14:45 – 15:10 Coffee
15:10 – 16:15 Panel debate with questions & input from the audience
16:15 – 17:00 Recap (moderator)
BIOGRAFIER
Mathias Danbolt (NO/DK)
Mathias Danbolt holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Bergen and teaches Art Theory at the Funen Art Academy. Mathias Danbolt’s texts on e.g. the relation between the archives of art history, feminism and queer theory have been published internationally, and Danbolt is the editor of ‘Trikster – Nordic Queer Journal’. Mathias Danbolt is a former member of the FAIR – FABRIKKEN Artist in Residence – committee.
www.mathiasdanbolt.com
Taru Elfving (FI)
Taru Elfving is a curator and writer on contemporary art and theory, based in Helsinki, Finland. She was Programme Director of HIAP - Helsinki International Artist Programme during 2012-13, and has recently taken up the position of Head of Programme at Frame - Visual Art Finland. Her curatorial practice concentrates on critical encounters between artists and different audiences, specificities of sites, institutional frames and other disciplines in, amongst others, Contemporary Art Archipelago (CAA) exhibition and symposium (Turku, European Capital of Culture, Finland 2011), Centrifugal network (Belfast, Helsinki, Zagreb, London 2005-ongoing), and Lofoten International Art Festival (Norway 2008). Most recently she has been developing a multidisciplinary research and production think tank for contemporary art and other fields with a focus on ecology and the public sphere. Elfving has published research and art criticism in numerous Finnish and international anthologies, exhibition catalogues and journals. She has also taught as a visiting tutor for many years at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki as well as in a number of other Art Academies in the Nordic countries. Her PhD from Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, focused on the audiovisual installations of Eija-Liisa Ahtila and the space of address between the works and their viewers
Nicholas Laughlin (TT)
Nicholas Laughlin is a writer and editor, born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and currently based there.
He is co-director of the contemporary arts space and network Alice Yard, and editor of both the arts and travel magazine Caribbean Beat and The Caribbean Review of Books. He is also programme director of the Bocas Lit Fest, an annual literary festival based in Port of Spain. His essays (often on Caribbean art and artists), reviews, and poems have been published in various books and periodicals.
www.nicholaslaughlin.net
Maria Gry Bregnbak (DK)
Maria Gry Bregnbak works with residencies at the Factory of Art and Design is behind the seminar You are Here – Rethinking Residencies. Maria Gry Bregnbak is a curator and holds an MA in Art History from the University of Copenhagen. She has been working with international contemporary art in Denmark and abroad for a number of years.
Cathrine Hoffmann(UK)
Catherine Hoffmann received a BA from Dartington College of Arts - Theatre and Visual Performance department and she has been collaborating with Molly Haslund since 2007. She has performed in large parts of the world; solo as well as collaboratively.
Her work explores the intersection between performance art, theatricality, comedy and music. She combines process-based actions, texts, visual art and extended use of the voice in her work as well as a delivering a wide range of participatory projects.
The artist duo MOLLY AND ME is an interdisciplinary collaboration between performer Catherine Hoffmann (UK) and visual artist Molly Haslund (DK). The duo’s musical performances are site-specific works where instruments such as the ukulele, xylophone and percussion support bittersweet humour of the lyrics.
In 2012, Catherine Hoffmann was a Cph Air Artist in Residence at the Factory of Art and Design.
Molly Haslund (DK)
Molly Haslund received an MA from The Royal Danish Academy of Art in 2005 following an MFA from the Glasgow School of Art. Her performances have been shown throughout Europe and she constitutes half of the artist duo Molly and Me – an interdisciplinary collaboration between Haslund and Catherine Hoffmann.
‘I often construct a real but humorous and absurd universe in my performances. Through these I depict joys and conflicts in the paradoxes that exist in commonplace objects and situations, in cultural rituals, music and pop culture. Through constructed challenges and personal statements, I aim to create new poetic understandings and visual tableaux of joyful melancholy.’
Molly Haslund, 2013.
www.mollyhaslund.com
www.molly-and-me.com
Stine Herbert (DK)
Stine Hebert holds an MA in Art History from the University of Copenhagen and an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmith’s College, University of London.
Stine Hebert is the rector of the Funen Art Academy and prior to that Hebert held the position of curator at Kunsthal Charlottenborg and director of BAC – Baltic Art Center in Sweden. Stine Hebert has participated in developing several residency programmes and is furthermore a member of the Nordic Culture Point’s expert committee on residency centres.
Q & A with Maria Gry Bregnbak
By Anna Meera Gaonkar, the Danish Arts Council
This June, The Factory of Art and Design in Copenhagen will host a public seminar on how the residency format can be developed. Maria Gry Bregnbak, organiser of the seminar, talks about why residencies need rethinking.
Since 2007, The Factory of Art and Design in Copenhagen has hosted more than 70 art residencies. This summer, the institution has invited international residency programme directors, curators and artists to discuss and share their experiences with artist-in-residency programmes.
The Danish art historian Maria Gry Bregnbak is the initiator of the seminar 'You are Here – Rethinking Residencies', which will be held at The Factory of Art and Design.
Q: Why does the residency format need rethinking?
Maria Gry Bregnbak: Residencies come in all shapes and forms, and the artist residency has been an established practice for more than a hundred years. The early residencies were most often a trip to the countryside, with lots of fresh air and plenty of time to work and study. Today’s programmes are generally more site-specific and often focused on production. Some residencies require a special kind of participation from the artist, while others are so open they risk becoming indifferent. It's important that we as residency hosts reflect on what we are doing and how we are doing it. We want to find out what artists or curators need and how this can be provided, despite the scarcity of resources.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the seminar? Was it a out of need or interest?
Maria Gry Bregnbak: At the Factory, we have been working with various residency programmes, and the differences between them have made us curious and reflect on the format. For instance, why do some residency formats generally work better than others? We believe a thorough discussion on how we structure and implement residencies could be very important to the development of future residency formats.
Q: In addition to the seminar, The Factory of Art and Design is also producing an e-book about residencies. Could you tell us about that?
Maria Gry Bregnbak: The e-book will be a collection of texts written by the speakers we have invited to the seminar. In other words, a collection of important points made during the discussions. There seems to be an increased interest in residencies, and we are often contacted by people who want to start a residency, in Copenhagen or internationally, asking us for advice on how to structure a residency programme. This e-book will hopefully be of help for them too.
Q: What makes residencies so important?
Maria Gry Bregnbak: A former artist-in-residence at The Factory of Art and Design, Anna Ring, painted a huge chocolate circle on the wall of her studio while she was here. She said it was like making a dot on a map. Something that tells you where you are, something that anchors you in the world. I think this dot illustrates what residencies are all about: Being out of place, away from your usual surroundings, with funding, time and space to work on your project and meet new people. It's not a holiday, it's not a job, it's not a journey. The residency is somewhere in between the studio and the exhibition. In my view, this space holds a great potential for reflection and new meetings. I often think of the residency as one of the few spaces left for experimenting in the art world today.
"You are Here – Rethinking Residencies" is generously supported by the Danish Arts Council.