CAIRO RESIDENCY SYMPOSIUM
Organised by the Townhouse Gallery and the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
25 - 27 March 2009, Cairo, Egypt
The symposium report can be downloaded here.
Inspired by the increased interest in artist mobility between Europe and the Mediterranean region, the Middle-East and Africa and upcoming initiatives in the region, the Townhouse Gallery (Cairo) and the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Amsterdam) organised a three day Residency Symposium in Cairo. The symposium focused on the main aims and challenges of artist mobility in connection to residencies: managing expectations, the role of the host institution as facilitator and presenter of the visiting artist, methods of evaluating of residencies and the post-residency period.
The aim of the symposium was to discuss in depth the significance and possibilities of cultural exchange in residency centers between artists from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This was explored in relation to the divergent and potentially conflicting expectations connected to residencies. We aimed to explore the tangle of the underlying factors that are artistic, social, political, cultural and personal in nature. At the same time, the symposium served as a platform for meetings of and informal talks between representatives of residency centers in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art
The Townhouse Gallery of contemporary art is a non-profit arts institution located in Downtown Cairo. Since its inception in 1998, the gallery has developed rapidly into one of the region’s leading independent art spaces. Townhouse provides a platform for creative inquiry across disciplines and supports artistic work in diverse media. The gallery offers a regular program of curated exhibitions and film series, as well as various international artists’ residencies. Facilities include an arts library, archives of artists’ work, studio spaces, a rehearsal hall and workshop rooms. The gallery has been running an extensive outreach program since its foundation designed to reach various under-served constituencies and diversify the perspectives substantiating Townhouse’s self-concept.
Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (known in the Netherlands as Fonds BKVB) is the national body responsible for making grants to individual visual artists, designers and architects. Its objective is to nurture excellence in visual arts, design and architecture in the Netherlands. The Fonds BKVB has access to a number of artist-in-residence studios in various countries.
The Townhouse Gallery and Fonds BKBV have been working together for the past three years (the Fonds funds 4 Netherlands-based resident artists per year in Townhouse).
