Arts Management

Hong Kong Fringe Club - Hong Kong

Hong Kong Festival Fringe was established in 1982. It has evolved from an annual Fringe Festival, to a City Festival, and now a Festival Without Walls presenting programs in and outside of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Fringe Club organises bilateral exchange projects, living history enactments, visual arts and theatre productions. Fringe Club is housed in a Grade-1 heritage building, now a landmark in Central Hong Kong. It is recognised in the region as a successful example for adaptive re-use of a heritage building. An arts manager will have the opportunity to work at the Fringe Club based on their past experience and interest.

Teamwork - Delhi          

For over 25 years, Teamwork Arts, India's first arts production company, has taken India to the world and brought the world to India. Led by Sanjoy Roy, a true entrepreneur of the arts, who established the company in 1989, and a like-minded leadership team with an artistically inclined temperament. Teamwork Arts has always believed that the arts of India are unrivalled in their depth, diversity and mystery and that it is through the arts that people across continents and cultures can be brought together. Teamwork Arts' mantra thus has been to showcase India's flavourful cultural, artistic and literary corpus to global audiences. We take our artists seriously and nurture age-old, close relationships with them. This has helped us take these 'art ambassadors' across countries such as Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA through our many highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals.

We also craft the world's largest free literary gathering, the annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, the annual Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) and Festival, Mahindra Kabira, Sacred Pushkar and Jazz India Circuit, amongst others. Teamwork Arts has had the honour of organising two prestigious collaborative cultural events at Rashtrapati Bhawan: the finale of the 2016 India Africa Summit and the Indo-ASEAN Commemorative Summit 2012.

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) - Bali

Held annually in Ubud, Bali's artistic and cultural heartland, the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) has become Southeast Asia's largest and most renowned cultural and literary event. While a writers' festival at its heart, the UWRF also encompasses a broad program of visual arts, music, performance, and community projects, creating a world-class festival that celebrates extraordinary stories across art form and amplifies brave voices, global issues and big ideas. This residency offers an Arts Manager a unique opportunity to work with a cross-cultural creative team in a festival that combines an internationally recognised program with a community-building mission. The successful resident should be available for a three month residency between August-November.

Hong Kong Arts Centre

Hong Kong Arts Centre - The relevant destination for arts and creative inspirations in Hong Kong.

HKAC is a multi-arts centre that fosters artistic exchanges locally and internationally, bringing the most forward creations to Hong Kong and showcasing homegrown talents abroad.

HKAC stimulates innovation and promotes creativity. Being Hong Kong's only independent non-profit multi-arts institution, HKAC offers exhibitions, screenings and performances, connecting the arts of Hong Kong to the rest of the world through programmes and collaborations.

Come to HKAC to experience, appreciate, learn and be inspired by the arts.

Kriti Gallery & Residency - Varanasi  

Kriti Gallery & Artist Residency welcomes artists, scholars, writers, creative individuals and social activists from all fields to interact with one of the oldest living cities and the Indian arts and culture. The vision is to cultivate a platform for an ongoing cultural exchange across all media. Traditional or contemporary, arts of crafts, heritage and history, social or spiritual projects find their support and home at Kriti.

Sanskriti Foundation - New Delhi

The purpose of Sanskriti Foundation is to cultivate an environment for the preservation and development of the artistic and cultural expressions of India and of the world as a whole. Established in 1978, Sanskriti Foundation is a registered Public Charitable Trust based in New Delhi, India. Sanskriti perceives its role as that of a catalyst, in revitalizing cultural sensitivity in contemporary times. The Foundation aims to create an understanding and appreciation of Indian traditional arts and culture, and support artists, writers, scholars and creative individuals to strengthen their practice.

Komunitas Salihara - Jakarta

Komunitas Salihara is the first privately-owned multidisciplinary arts and cultural center in Indonesia. Their vision is to maintain freedom of thought and expression, respect differences and diversity, and to foster artistic and intellectual resources. Komunitas Salihara gives priority to new arts and invites audiences to support this innovation. The organisation hosts 'Festival Salihara', a biannual arts event showcasing dance, theatre, music and visual arts by Indonesian and international artists. The complex features a black box theatre, art gallery, lounge, open-air theatre, dance and music studios, art store and café.

Common Room Networks Foundation - Bandung

Common Room Networks Foundation (Common Room) is an open platform for art, culture and media. Initially established as a project led by Bandung Centre for New Media Arts in 2001, Common Room has evolved into a not-for-profit organisation which promotes creativity, facilitating multidisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. Activities include exhibitions, workshops, discussions, screenings, festivals, as well as public participatory projects and activities.

BankART1929 - Yokohama

BankART1929 was established in 2004 as a non-profit organization designed to utilize refurbished historical buildings for the development of contemporary culture and arts in Yokohama City. The organisation currently runs BankART Studio NYK, a renovated former warehouse which coverers approx. 3,000 square metres.

BankART1929 actively pursues hundreds of programs per year, operating studio spaces, planning and organizing art courses, running the bookshop and producing its contents, as well as organizing exhibitions and providing coordinator services. The art forms presented range from fine arts, architecture, theatre and dance to music and more. These activities are not only conducted within the BankART building but also in its surrounding neighbourhood.

Youkobo Art Space – Tokyo

Based in Tokyo with over 28 years of experience of hosting international artists, Youkobo has developed a unique residence program focused on supporting the creative activities of its participants.

While providing an environment conducive to work in the studio, Youkobo has become a vital platform for exchange between artists of different backgrounds and genres through its residency and gallery program. At the same time, it provides opportunities for engagement with the local community and wider art scene through an extensive domestic and international network.

The Youkobo Artist Residency Program aims to give participating artists, curators, and researchers an enriching experience in the realization of their projects/research in Japan. In recent years, Youkobo is also working to develop exchange schemes with art universities in support of recent graduates.

Participants are selected based on the strength of their proposals and its suitability to the Youkobo facilities, as well as the quality of previous work.

Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio

Set atop the park in southern Sapporo, Tenjinyama Art Studio offers panoramic views of the city and its surrounding mountains. Tenjinyama Art Studio houses 13 studio apartments, versatile larger spaces, as well as a gallery space on the ground floor. Local residents as well as international artists and residents from a wide range of creative backgrounds use this unique public space, providing a great forum for local engagement as well as an open dialogue between the artists and the community. Tenjinyama Art Studio offers self-funded residencies of up to 3 months, and provide a studio apartment, use of all public facilities and a wealth of local knowledge from the staff.

Incheon Art Platform (IAP)

Incheon Art Platform (IAP) is a multicultural art forum that supports the creative work of artists and researchers through its residency program. Since opening in September 2009, Incheon Art Platform has diversified and developed its programs, supporting artists, hosting exhibitions and performances, and offering educational programs. Each year around nine global artists become residents, creating and transforming Incheon Art Platform into a place for international exchange and communication. Incheon Art Platform inherited the openness of Incheon’s open port and its traits and will continue to carry this forward.

Rimbun Dahan – Kuang

Rimbun Dahan is a privately-run centre for architecture, creative arts and nature conservation, within a 14-acre indigenous Southeast Asian garden setting outside Kuala Lumpur. Since 1994, the resident artist program has hosted more than 100 individuals who have benefited from the unique atmosphere of Rimbun Dahan to build their own artistic practice. This residency encourages links between artistic communities in Malaysia and the rest of Southeast Asia, and Australia, and provides artists with a calm environment for creative work. Rimbun Dahan supports both traditional and contemporary art forms from both performing and visual artists.

Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre - Kuala Lumpur

First founded in 1989 by Dato' Faridah Merican and Joe Hasham OAM, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) was established as Malaysia's first fully-integrated arts centre after the original theatre, Actors Studio @ Plaza Putra, was destroyed in flash floods in 2003. Since then KLPAC has not only been a home to the arts community and a foster home for foreign troupes, but has become the very lifeline that keeps the arts and cultural life in Malaysia breathing. In 2011, KLPAC opened 'penangpac', the first arts centre in the Northern Region and the second centre in Malaysia after KLPAC to advance the performing arts in Penang and the Northern Region. In line with its aim to nurture young talent, KLPAC runs a residency programme giving young talents a safe space to hone their skills and craft. The Centre boasts resident directors specialised in their individual artistic fields such as Mark Beau de Silva and Lex Lakshman Balakrishnan. Residents at KLPAC are charged with presenting a wide range of performances and activities. Residents are also encouraged to run courses at the Academy and become involved in the Community Outreach programme.

George Town Festival - George Town

With an event management range that is both explorative and expressive, Joe Sidek Productions explores avenues of creativity through the usage of space, arts, and culture. The organisation’s three major projects have been organising and implementing George Town Festival (2010 - present), Butterworth Fringe Festival (2015 - present), Rainforest Fringe Festival (2017 - present), and other projects with government and non-government bodies.

The Festival event management and production range includes festival planning and management, artist liaison, event programming and logistics, site management /general production, stage management, VIP management, hospitality, backstage management, and volunteer management. Giving back to the community through the enhancement of the arts is a core motto of the proudly Penang-based company. The organisation has a reputation for bringing artistry back to life in the city, and they wish to continue to play this pivotal role in the years ahead. Joe Sidek Productions have in the last 7 years collaborated with several institutions and organisations in internship and residency programmes with participants from New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Green Papaya Art Projects – Manila

Green Papaya Art Projects is an independent initiative that supports and organises actions and proposition that explore tactical approaches to the production, dissemination, research and presentation of contemporary practices in varied artistic and scholarly fields. It endeavours to provide a platform for intellectual exchange, sharing of information, critical dialogue and creative/practical collaboration among the artistic community. Founded in 2000, it is the longest running independently run multidisciplinary platform in the Philippines.

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay – Singapore

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is a not-for-profit charitable institution of public character and is Singapore's national arts centre. It is an internationally recognised cultural institution and one of the busiest in the world. Esplanade presents more than 3,000 performances annually which cut across all genres to encompass music, dance, theatre and visual arts, catering to diverse audiences. Since its opening in 2002, it has welcomed over 75 million visitors, staged more than 25,000 performances and attended by about 18.5 million people. Esplanade's mission is to make the arts accessible for everyone to enjoy. It strives to nurture audiences to engage with the diversity of arts and culture. At its core, Esplanade is committed to serving the public through the arts and nurturing cultural expressions that inspire its people to feel a sense of pride and ownership. The resident will be attached to the Programming team and will gain an insight into Esplanade's programming strategies and operational considerations.

Maya Dance Theatre - Singapore  

Maya Dance Theatre is a dance theatre company that creates works addressing socially relevant subjects which resonate across borders through intercultural, multidisciplinary dance theatre.

Maya's distinctive expression is grounded in the visceral nature of human spirit! We create an integral space for Asian traditional form (Bharatha Natyam) and contemporary dance to evolve together.

The Asian dance training philosophy of Maya Dance Theatre keeps the body grounded like the roots of a tree and the choreography embodies the contemporary space.

We present stories of your world through our eyes!

Our residency programme provides choreographers and dance artists an opportunity to explore inter-cultural development, a supportive platform for growth and development, as well as to network with Singapore's art scene.

Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Film - Singapore

Established in 2003, Objectifs is an independent non-profit gallery and educational space that is committed to advancing the practice and appreciation of film and photography. Through year-round educational programmes, exhibitions, screenings, residencies and mentorships, our mission is to build a community of image-makers and visual storytellers, creating and sharing artistic works that foster dialogue around local and international issues. The goal of our residency programme is to provide photographers, filmmakers and artists who work in photography and film with a supportive platform, conducive for the creation and development of new personal work, as well as to facilitate exchanges with local artists and build networks.

Grey Projects - Singapore

Grey Projects is an artist-run space for publication, curatorial and exchange activities, supporting artists and art practices with exhibitions, writings and residencies. Grey Projects looks for the urgent, the necessary, the experiments, the propositional, as well as new writing and curatorial practices. As a venue, Grey Projects is a workspace, library, gallery, studio and residency space. They are located in Tiong Bahru, one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates, and they celebrate their 10th year in 2018.

Dance Forum Taipei – Taipei

Dance Forum Taipei is a contemporary dance company in Taiwan. The company acts as an open forum for local and international choreographers and artists to come together and present their ideas. The company has produced more than 700 performances since its inception in 1989, touring throughout Taiwan as well as abroad to main cities of Asia, America and Europe. Dance Forum Taipei has focused on cross-country collaborations since 2008. Artists and theatres include: Christian Rizzo, Myriam Herve-Gil & Compagnie Käfig (France), Leine Roebana (Netherlands), Zuni Icosahedron (Hong Kong), Toru Shimazaki & Condors (Japan); Marina Mascarell, Iván Pérez and Korzo Theatre in the Hague. The Company is located at the Crown Arts Centre with a dance studio of approximately 140 sq ft, and a black box theatre with 100 seats. Dance Forum also provides link between local dancers, choreographers, theatres and universities and dance programs.

Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei

Overlooking the Kuandu Plain and constructed alongside the mountain slope, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts is the first fine arts museum located within a university campus in Taiwan.  The Kuandu Residency Program aims to enhance the exchange experience between international artists/curators, university students/tutors, and museum/audiences. The program provides a great opportunity for artists/curators and audiences to create conversations at the university and to share learning resources and practices through artist talks, open studios and workshops.

Ne'-Na Contemporary Art Space, Chiang Mai

Ne'-Na Contemporary Art Space is an artist-run residency program in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. The program gives artists the opportunity to develop and expand their work and engage in intercultural exchange amidst a supportive network of local and international artists. Ne'-Na invites and welcomes artists to learn about the traditional northern Thai (Lanna) culture, and to explore possibilities in sustainable, self-sufficient living. The residency program is a platform for international artists to negotiate the traditional and popular art and culture of Thailand through their works. 

The program is divided between two sites: Monfai Cultural Centre in Chiang Mai city, and the annex site, just outside the city in Mae Rim.

Muong Studio - Hoa Binh

Muong Studio is an art centre of the Muong's Cultural Museum, located in North West of Vietnam. It aims to preserve and develop a local culture based on the connection between the ancient culture and contemporary arts, to connect other art centres in Vietnam and internationally, and to support artists and contemporary art development in Vietnam. Muong Studio's activities program includes art exhibition, projects, workshops and artist-in-residency program (Muong AIR) for both local and international artists. Muong AIR provides facilities and opportunities for the professional development of artists from the fields of Visual Arts, Performance Arts, and Literature etc. As a part of Muong's Cultural Museum, Muong Studio also encourages curators and researchers from related fields including arts and cultural studies (especially those conducting research relating to the Muong ethnic culture) to apply to our residency programs, as it is part of our mission to promote the local culture and foster regional and international exchange programs.

Studio Kura - Fukuoka

Studio Kura opened in 2008 as an art institution running two different programs: artist in residence as well as art teaching for children and adults. Located in the beautiful rural environment of Itoshima peninsula in Fukuoka on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan, there are full of rich nature surrounded by sea, mountains and rice fields within walkable distance. 

Studio Kura’s Artist in Residence Program is an opportunity for domestic and international artists to experience and draw inspiration from Japan’s rural environment, as well as for Studio Kura’s thriving local community to meet different artists and their works. We also organize art events such as the Itoshima Arts Farm: Itoshima International Art Festival (every two years) and participate the regional and seasonal events introducing the participating artists' works in the various locations.

Hosting International Artist Residencies in Greater Melbourne

Ambitious investment is driving cross-sectoral collaboration on a raft of new hard and soft infrastructure projects that are strengthening Victoria’s branding as a Creative State, and Melbourne’s reputation as an international creative capital. However, there remains a surprising lack of dedicated residency space for visiting international artists. On 4 September 2019, a cross-sectoral group gathered at Grimshaw Architects to discuss opportunities to reposition Melbourne as a globally competitive destination for international residencies, grounded in thoughtful hosting.  Invited panellists offered provocations around concepts of welcoming and hosting, how exchanges can better support the building of relationships and embed visiting artists within Melbourne’s creative ecology, and how residencies can provide conduits for cross-cultural dialogue and public debate.

Deepening a Culture of Hosting

As a first principle, hosting in the City of Melbourne must be founded in respectful acknowledgment of the Traditional Owners of the land. In the opening panel, singer and songwriter Kutcha Edwards called in Mutti Mutti language to ask permission of the ancestors of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation to speak and enter sacred ground. Hosting and welcoming visitors to this land requires learning and heeding protocols and customs that meaningfully pay respect to Elders, past and present Residency Projects founder Eugene Howard, who works closely with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Corporation and the Nillumbik Shire Council in the development of the Garambi Baan (Laughing waters) Residency, affirmed the need for the arts and culture sectors to ensure that residency opportunities are meaningful and responsible when welcoming artists to unceded land. As several commentators noted, with the strong tendency for international artists to seek connection with Indigenous communities and histories, questions of how exchange can be meaningful for First Nations communities and artists need to be prioritised. It is also important to consider appropriate orientation for visiting artists, including challenging assumptions around traditional and contemporary First Nations’ artmaking practices.

Miriam La Rosa, who is undertaking doctoral research on cross-cultural artistic residencies, endorsed the untethering of hosting from western concepts and the embrace of Indigenous-led models. She proposed that a residency be conceived as a gift exchange between host and guest, one that is not necessarily material, but oriented towards the building of relationships.  Conceiving of a residency as commutative rather than one-directional may require rethinking of the principles and structures that frame and shape an exchange. La Rosa also noted that while residencies are conventionally understood as providing artists space to think, develop, and experiment, some artists may not have an interest in developing new works or skills. They may approach the residency, for example, as a diplomatic act.

Clive Scott, General Manager of the Sofitel, spoke of residencies as potentially offering a moment of self-care and respite for artists.  He underscored the opportunity for the hotel industry, which is in the business of hospitality and welcoming, to be more active in supporting artist residencies. The Sofitel artist in residency programme opens the complexity of hotel activity to artists, without pressure to produce creative outcomes. Scott advocated residency structures that challenge artists’ ideas through total immersion in an unfamiliar environment, while promoting cross-pollination of ideas between artist and the host community, including hotel staff and guests.

Phillip Adams, BalletLab, queried the model of residencies as mechanisms for diplomacy, posing the trafficking of artists between institutions as a performance of comfort. He agitated passionately for residencies that promote discomfort, by bringing oppositional artists and communities into creative confrontation within shared space, thus allowing for reflexive learning, and the renewal and recalibration of practices.

Embedding International Artists in Communities

International residencies can be isolating or detached experiences. Mella Jaarsma drew on lessons learned from Cemeti Institute of Art & Society, Yogyakarta, to emphasise the value of engaging a local facilitator to overcome possible language barriers, to connect the resident into local art scene, or to intensify engagement with a research field. Offering a perspective from regional Victoria, Kent Wilson spoke of the need to navigate the sensitivities and potential opportunities of extending trust to local communities to host visiting artists. Treating locals as labour for artistic process must be carefully addressed, but can also open space for extraordinary creative outcomes, and long-lasting relationships and collaborations.

Priya Srinivasan pointed to the colonial erasure from dominant histories of thousands of years of exchange between Australia and Asia. The marginal status of Asian diaspora communities within the Australian arts sector has prompted self-initiated, tactical, informal pathways for collaboration and exchange between Asia and Australia. She provided an example of triangular residencies between villages in Asia, diaspora residents in Australia, and Indigenous communities. This underscores the underappreciated soft power resource of diaspora to embed visiting artists within supportive communities.

Tilla Buden spoke of the artist residency program in Greater Dandenong, the most culturally diverse city in Australia, home to over 2000 asylum seekers. Emphasis has been placed on offering a residency to local artists in an historic government building, however overnight stays are not allowed. The Council has turned to the local community for ideas and resolutions for residency opportunities, what began as ad hoc community consultation has evolved into a monthly meet up in the local theatre. Through organic conversations, artists share ideas, works and opportunities in what Buden described as a “live noticeboard,” from which the council can learn and discover what it can do to support creative practice amongst its residents. This has allowed the council to really reflect the needs of their unique constituency, providing space for local diasporic artists to catalyse discussion around hosting visiting artists from their home countries and cultural contexts. Buden’s positive observations on how councils can best support artists was well aligned with Srinivasan’s comments.

From his work touring sound artists and musicians from Asia, especially China, to Melbourne, Mat Spisbah raised questions around how we define creative communities, and how this can lead to more nuanced models of engagement. Spisbah emphasised the importance of person to person connection in intercultural collaboration and knowledge sharing. There is scope for catalysing or strengthening partnerships between residency providers and local creative studios, which already have the infrastructure and artistic networks to allow impactful cross-fertilization of international and local practices.

Visiting Galecian artist Enar de Dios Rodriguez, who was just completing a residency at RMIT, praised the university setting as a place of residency, which can provide an international artist with facilities, equipment, studios, workshops, professional technical knowledge, and a readymade artistic community where shared interests can be developed.  She raised discrete residencies as counter to the development of sustained relationships, but prolonged residencies as difficult to sustain in terms of family, living support, and professional commitments. An alternative model could involve a series of iterative residencies of shorter duration, spread over time.

While questioning the framing of residencies as magic puddings for cultural production, urban transformation and soft diplomacy, Eugene Howard also promoted nurturing the potency of residency opportunities by cultivating strong connections to place through revisitation and long-term engagement: “We’re interested in a symbiotic relationship between the artist, place adn communities, particularly through nurturing philosophies of return, enabling a more complex and nuanced engagement if, say, an artist knows they will return in one, two or even three years’ time.”

Creating Spaces

Howard called on Creative Victoria to play a greater role in supporting arts organisations and projects to rejuvenate dis-used assets outside of metropolitan centres. He advocated for new forms of non-permanent residency spaces, for example, attached to major infrastructure projects might create opportunities for embedding artistic practice into projects from their inception.

Marcus Westbury, who has driven the development of the Collingwood Arts Precinct, presented the CAP approach to the reclamation of city spaces for artists’ use, which he conceives as a transferrable model. CAP will function as a multi-use space for diverse arts tenants, with paying tenants subsidising not-for-profit entities. Westbury noted the challenge of finding and making creative spaces when policy makers actively remove and ignore the need for cultural spaces in the pursuit of profit-driven development. He advocated for systemic change at the state government level.

Adriano Nunes brought attention to the Creative Spaces website, which operates as a clearing house for local artists looking for places to lease for studios or performance venues. The website lists over 160 spaces of varying availability and cost. He also pointed to the Arts Infrastructure Framework as setting out the future development of infrastructure for the creative sector in the city. Although Arts Melbourne does not incorporate in residencies within the current program, Sophie Travers underscored the role they played in hosting international artists for AsiaTOPA and working to connect those artists locally.

Noting the rapid growth in Melbourne, audience questions were raised around why artist spaces suitable for residency use are not proliferating, and how the provision of residency spaces could be raised with developers and planners, who are required to assign a percentage of space in new buildings for community use under the contribution scheme. Nunes encouraged submitting a proposal to the Creative Spaces team to detail the needs, as a request is required to make space available.

Within the hotel industry, there are opportunities to expand and diversify artist residency offerings. In 2018, 1– 5-star hotels in Melbourne had approximately 85% occupancy, pointing to significant opportunity to release underutilised space for artist residencies. Given the market share of e-accommodation services Airbnb and Booking.com, there is scope to propose sponsorship of a programme of artist residencies across diverse accommodations in Melbourne, as a means to return social benefits to the community.

Next Steps

There is an urgent need to foster continued cross-sectoral cooperation to examine current and imminent potential for international residency space, as well as infrastructure opportunities and zoning barriers. A range of challenges and considerations for increased hosting capabilities in Greater Melbourne were identified that will require further dialogue and co-ordinated action.

For example, how can small organisations be supported by state government and local councils to administer high quality residencies, given soft infrastructure barriers, such as high administration and insurance costs, and a lack of access to cultural capability training or resources?  How can arts organisations be assisted to navigate hard infrastructure challenges around building usage codes and safe accessibility? How can a level of cultural competency and safety for artists and hosts be assured?  How can home stay offerings and voluntary hosting be appreciated and valued, while acknowledging that professional artists may have specific needs for privacy and flexible living and working space?

As well as a need to follow up on the varied proposals raised during the discussions, including coordinating a request to Creative Spaces to suit international artist residencies, and approaching online accommodation providers for residency support, strong demand was expressed for an online resource. A dedicated web portal for international artist residencies could profile current visiting residents, and also assist in matching the needs of visiting artists with organisations who offer studio facilities or accommodation.

Asialink Arts, Res Artis and the Committee for Melbourne have committed to pursue these next steps, and to deepen collaboration with individuals and organisations towards cooperative action. The Committee for Melbourne’s submission to the Creative State consultation included mention of the Symposium and advocacy for greater residency infrastructure in Melbourne.

The Symposium on Hosting in Greater Melbourne is the first step in a nationwide audit of barriers to hosting international, cross-cultural residencies, a strand of action that will benefit artists and arts organisations across Australia who have identified closer Asian engagement as an urgent priority.

Asialink Arts, Res Artis and the Committee for Melbourne are committed to translating these discussion points into action. If you have any contacts, ideas or thoughts please contact us at arts@asialink.unimelb.edu.au

About the Partners

Committee for Melbourne is an apolitical, not-for-profit, member-based organisation that brings together over 150 organisations from Greater Melbourne's business, academic and community sectors who have a passion for shaping Melbourne as a leading global city in the world's fastest-growing region, the Asia-Pacific.

Res Artis is a 26-year old network of arts residency centres from around the globe, comprising over 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. Res Artis operates from three international offices: the Netherlands, Australia and Iran.  Res Artis supports and connect residencies, develops and expand residency networks, advocates for the importance of residencies in today’s society, and provides recommendations towards cultural mobility research and policy.

Asialink Arts works as a cultural enabler, capacity builder, and conduit to the Indo-Pacific region for Australian artists and institutions, leveraging a legacy of three decades of practical experience, cross-sector relationships, and trusted connections throughout the region. In 2019, Asialink Arts has been critically examining our impact, and refocussing our ambition and capacity to meet the demands of a rapidly changing region and diverse arts sector. Asialink Arts’ new facilitation model is responsive, agile, and dynamic, shepherding introductions, growing connections, fostering institutional partnerships, connecting artists and arts institutions to opportunities, and creating platforms for exchange. Our new strategies include a shift from outbound residencies towards mutual exchange and partnerships based on reciprocity. We will also proactively analyse barriers to engagement, and convene forums that bring cross-sectoral stakeholders together to identify practical, cooperative action to address barriers. Through our services, we are committed to measurably enhancing the agency of Australian artists and institutions to achieve their respective priorities for engagement with Asia.

Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far): A Conversation Series

Asialink Arts and Santy Saptari Art Consulting present Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far), a conversation series about Indonesia-Australia relations in visual arts. Through the lens of visual arts the program aimed to ask, ‘what can the arts do to build understanding and trust between nations?’

Leading artists, representatives from public and private Australian and Indonesian art institutions, art collectors and gallerists explored how deeper connections and opportunities might be fostered.

1. Artists Insights: Exhibit, Exchange, Co-Create

The first conversation brought together prominent Indonesian and Australian artists to share their respective experiences in Indonesia and Australia – exploring the professional, social and cultural contexts. The session touched on the value of artistic exchange and residency programs, as well as the experience as a member of a diaspora community, exploring notions of identity and using various cultural references as a form of expression.

Caitlin Hughes recaps the first session dedicated to artists’ insights – and reflects on the conversation’s key themes of accessibility, place, and opportunity. Read Here.

Peripheries, encounters, and entry points:

Artists share perspectives on cross-cultural experiences in Australia and Indonesia.

Speakers: Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Febie Babyrose (Tromarama), Jumaadi, and Tintin Wulia.
Moderated by Bala Starr – Director, La Trobe Art Institute.

2. Scaffolding the Indonesian and Australian Visual Arts Sectors: The Role of Institutions and The Structure of Advocacy

The second conversation invited speakers who are involved in advocacy, governance and delivery of institutional programs that support cross-cultural understanding. They discussed how, in their respective positions, they are advocating for increased support including policy change, development of strategic partnerships, the role of education and the importance of engaging the public.

Caitlin Hughes recaps the second session and asks how we can foster more inclusive and dynamic ways of working in the arts. Read Here.

Speakers: Kate Ryan, Marcus Schutenko, Sally Smart, and Farah Wardani.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.

3. Private Platforms and The Art Market: Collecting, Connecting and Commissioning

The third conversation explored the critical role of private collectors and commercial organisations in promoting exchange and collaboration between Indonesia and Australia. The discussion unpicked the motivations, incentives and experiences of operating in this commercial context including the value of relationships with artists and difference between making public and keeping private.

Caitlin Hughes recaps the third session and asks what are the motivations that underpin the private arts sectors in Australia and Indonesia, how are they similar and different, and how are key players using their platforms to promote advocacy, exchange, and connections? Read Here.

Speakers: Konfir Kabo, Margaret Moore, Erastus Radjimin, and Tom Tandio.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.

4. Relationship Building: New Ways Forward in The Visual Arts Sectors of Indonesia and Australia

The last conversation discussed the recent trajectory in the Indonesian and Australian arts and cultural relationship and imagined future strategies and actions to strengthen ties and enhance mutual understanding.

Caitlin Hughes recaps the final session and asks what role can the arts, the media, and education fields play in developing closer links between Indonesia and Australia? How can we find new ways to tell stories about each other? And what could the relationship look like as we find new ways forward? Read Here.

Speakers: Penny Burtt, Hikmat Darmawan, Elena Williams, Chloé Wolifson, and Taufiqurrahman.
Moderated by Pippa Dickson – Director, Asialink Arts; and Santy Saptari – Principal Consultant, Santy Saptari Art Consulting.

Dekat-Dekat Jauh (So Close Yet So Far) has been supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Artlands Panel: Cultural Heritage – Regional Identity and Collective Memory

As part of our Regional // Regional initiative, Asialink Arts has developed this panel session to present at Artlands, the Regional Arts Australia national conference. The intent of the discussion is to share insights and consider adapted approaches to the sharing of cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage: Regional Identity and Collective Memory

The discussion will explore how artistic and cultural expressions enable the sharing, protection and cultivation of cultural heritage. Conversations surrounding cultural sensitivity, cultural ownership and social responsibilities will shed light on approaches to authentic connections to community, history and collective memories are fostered. Challenges and transformations inspired by such responsible and authentic connection will also be covered to understand the relationship between cultural heritage, identity and memory in practice.

The panel invites speakers Kim Hak (Cambodian photography artist), Pip Kelly (Australian filmmaker, curator and Asialink alumni) and Mikaela Jade (Caborgal woman, Founder and CEO of Indigital), moderated by Dr Pippa Dickson (Director of Asialink Arts).

The session wraps up by questioning tensions that arise if aspects of heritage and cultural expression only serve the interests of a particular segment of the community or when it is seen as exploitative and or at risk of being misappropriated.

Kim Hak, Portrait of Nov Oeub, "Alive" Chapter II, Australia, 2015  

Artlands

As Australia’s largest regional arts gathering for over two decades, Artlands is a strategic exchange that responds to emerging trends, discovers new ideas, considers adapted approaches and showcases artists as well as highlighting the creative and cultural sector across regional, rural and remote Australia.

In 2021, Artlands focuses on ‘The Space Between’, sparking conversations about practice through the intersection of people and place. The program explores contextual links between people, place and practice and considers a narrative of art as social change and emphasises the importance of cultural identity.

More on the Artlands speakers

Mikaela Jade is a Cabrogal Woman from the Dharug-speaking Nations of Sydney. She started her technology journey in 2012 with an idea that would help shape our nation – augmented and mixed reality production, and later, digital skills programs to leapfrog First Peoples’ into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To drive this idea forward, Mikaela created Indigital in 2014.

On the journey so far she has partnered with several remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Microsoft Australia and Telstra Purple to scale Indigital’s work nationally. Indigital’s flagship program is Indigital Schools. Indigital Schools is an Indigenous designed digital skills training program for primary and high schools students. It enables Indigenous and non-Indigenous kids to connect with and learn from Elders about cultural knowledge, history and language, while learning digital skills in cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality, animation and coding.

As Australia’s first Indigenous edutech company Indigital’s mission is to close the digital divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, by providing a meaningful pathway for Indigenous people into the digital economy and the creation of future technologies. She achieves this by ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ have access to developing cutting edge, safe, ethical, affordable, quality digital engagement that is appropriate to their social, cultural, environmental and economic needs.

Pip Kelly is a Western Australian curator, filmmaker and creative producer. Her award-winning films and exhibitions focus on history, truth-telling, photography and transformation. Pip is an Asialink arts management residency alumni who initiated Jorng Jam (to remember), a collaborative contemporary art project and historical exhibition series which remembers, reclaims and reinterprets Cambodian social history from before, during and after the Khmer Rouge era. Jorng Jam features the work of four Cambodian artists: Neang Kavich, Neak Sophal, Kong Vollak and Kim Hak and the rare historical photographs and objects of Cambodian and Australian families who survived Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea.
www.jorngjam.com | www.pipkelly.com.au

Kim Hak was born two years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1981 and he grew up listening to his parent’s memories of that time. Now, he uses his art practice to raise awareness of this country’s past – to remember, reclaim and reinterpret Cambodian social history from before, during and after the Khmer Rouge era.

Hak’s work has explored a number of themes related to the cultural fabric of Cambodia, including survivor stories, the funeral of King Sihanouk, architectural documentation and also the wider changing landscape of his homeland. From January through March 2020 Hak spent time in Japan thanks to a Japan Foundation grant working on a new chapter. He collaborated with Cambodian immigrants, mainly residents of Kanagawa and Saitama, to create 40 new photographic works that form the fourth chapter of his ‘Alive’ series.

Hak has exhibited extensively throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe, Canada and the United States of America. His work has featured internationally at art and photography festivals and has been published in a number of prominent photography journals.

Tickets for both online and in-person sessions are available on: Artlands 2021

Asialink Arts × Cementa21 Virtual: Foreground // Foresight

On Friday October 15, Asialink Arts will present two events for Cementa’s Spirit of '21. Foreground // Foresight introduces key arts leaders from Japan to discuss arts and culture led community-engaged placemaking and regional renewal. The program aligns and reinforces Cementa’s commitment to promoting arts and cultural led regeneration in Kandos and the Mid-Western region of NSW. These sessions aim to explore future collaborations and possibilities in Kandos’s regional community, inspiring international conversations through a local lens and leading to an actionable future agenda.

Fram Kitagawa, founder of Art Front, and the world renowned Setouchi and Echigo Tsumari Triennials will open with a keynote presentation to introduce and inspire possibilities of arts led regional regeneration. Following this there will be a panel discussion with three esteemed speakers from Japan and Australia, Teiko Hinuma, Norikazu Sato and Andrew Burns who will explore from their persepctives the ingredients to successful community led activation and regeneration in regional locations.

Keynote Presentation – Fram Kitagawa: Vision and Arts Leadership in Regional Development

Date: Friday, 15 Oct 2021
Time: 12.00pm AEDT

Arts-led regional regeneration projects in Japan have a successful history in contributing to the region’s economic, social, and environmental renewal through art and cultural tourism. We have invited Fram Kitagawa, the esteemed director of influential projects responsible for large-scale rejuvenation in regional and rural Japan to share with us the rationale and impact of his work. The session will look both back and forward to assess the change that arts led regional development can manifest.

Register here.

Panel Discussion – From the Ground Up: Community Catalysts

Date: Friday, 15 Oct 2021
Time: 1.00pm AEDT

Foreground // Foresight is presented by Asialink Arts and Cementa and supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation @ausjapanfoundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

More on the speakers:

Fram Kitagawa (北川フラム) is the Chairman of Art Front Gallery and Director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1946. Following his graduation from Tokyo University of the Arts, he organised various exhibitions that introduced to Japan works of art that at the time were not well known. He has been responsible for a wide range of art projects such as the Antoni Gaudi exhibition that traveled to 13 Japanese cities in 1978-1979 and the Apartheid Non! International Art Festival, originally organized as Art Against Apartheid by UNESCO, that was shown at 194 venues throughout Japan in 1988-1990.

Kitagawa has received high praise for his involvement in activities related to community development, such as his lead role in the planning of the Faret Tachikawa Art Project and the cultural activities he oversaw at the Daikanyama Hillside Terrace.

He has served as the general director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2000, and has made a major contribution to the development of the region through art. He has also served as the general director of the Setouchi Triennale the Northern Alps Art Festival, the Oku-Noto Triennale and Ichihara Art Mix, Boso Satoyama International Art Festival.

Teiko Hinuma (日沼禎子) is the Program Director of the Kesen  Artist in Residence Program (formerly known as Rikuzentakata AIR), a Professor of Art Produce and Museum Studies at Joshibi University of Art and Design, and a board member of AIR Network Japan. Previously, she worked for gallery management planning companies and art magazines as an editor.

In 1999, she was involved in the foundation of Aomori Contemporary Arts Centre. Until 2011, she served as a curator there, planning many exhibitions, projects, and residencies for artists. She has also served as the Program Director for the civilian artists support group ARTizan (Aomori), a project director of the Saitama Triennnale 2016 and art director of UBE Tokiwa Museum.

Norikazu Sato (佐東範一), Executive Director, NPO Japan Contemporary Dance Network, joined Butoh company Byakkosha in 1980 as both a dancer and company manager until it was dissolved in 1994. He studied arts management at the Dance Theater Workshop in New York in 1996. He then founded a non-profit organization, the Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) in Kyoto in 2001. JCDN organises Odori Ni Ikuze!! ("We are gonna go Dancing!!", a national tour project) affiliated with performance venues across Japan from 2000, including Asian tours.

JCDN has promoted Community Dance activities since 2008, and JCDN International Dance In Residence Exchange Project between Finland, Korea, U.S., Australia, Hong Kong since 2011. Sanriku-International Arts Festival is held annually by JCDN in Tohoku, a disaster area severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami since 2014. Now JCDN attempts to start New Dance Project in Japan and overseas, including exchange programs with international organisations. They have received the Japan Foundation's Prize for Global Citizenship in 2006 and Kyoto City Arts Promotion Prize in 2015.

Andrew Burns graduated from the University of Sydney in 2004. Since establishment in 2008, his practice has undertaken residential, cultural, community and public projects. The practice’s approach seeks to combine social engagement with design excellence, and is characterised by precise geometry and material exploration.

In 2011, the practice received first prize in the Australia House design competition for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan, selected by Tadao Ando from an international field of 154 entries.

In 2012, the practice was awarded first prize in an invited competition to transform a forgotten pocket at Gibbon's Rent into London's newest park and selected for the inaugural Fugitive Structures project at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, since installed permanently at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne.

In 2013 Andrew was a finalist for the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and received the RAIA National Emerging Architect Prize. In 2014, the practice was shortlisted for the Green Square Aquatic Centre project and received the Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture for Australia House.

Recently, the practice has received the significant commissions of a new café in Hyde Park Sydney, Cranbrook School’s rural campus in the Wolgan Valley, a series of remote projects in National Parks throughout Australia and a number of large scale multi-residential, education and hotel projects.