Abstract
There is a growing interest in artist residency programmes, the practice whereby an artist spends time working on their practice in a different environment for a set period of time. along with a demand for expertise around best practice. Residencies can be valuable competitive opportunities, markers of significant development in an artist’s career, even an obligatory step for some. They often present unparalleled opportunities to extend visibility and networks for artists by way of travel, mentorship, patronage and access to resources. For over a decade, I’ve devised, produced, hosted and written about creative residencies. It’s been an integral part of my practice as a curator, and an area of ongoing research. In the course of my research, I have become aware that there is little critical engagement with the practice. A literature review uncovered a few collections of essays exploring mobility in art, some specific residency programmes such as the Artist Placement Group have benefited from a little more attention. There are some attempts at tracing a history attempting to trace a filiation between the 16th century Italian academy and contemporary models. In this paper, I argue that this gap is due to a conflation of artist residencies either with contexts of hospitality or means to serve policy at institutional, regional, national or international levels. I also discuss the variables and interactions that make them complex ecosystems impacting on artists and the terms of creative labour.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
ARTIST RESIDENCIES, CREATIVE LABOUR, POLICY, COMMUNITY, ECOSYSTEMS, INTERACTIONS, ART PRACTICE
