Cross-residencies in the Mediterranean
La Art Explora Foundation and The Island Club, an independent non-profit space based in Cyprus, hosting exhibitions by local and international artists, launch the new Mediterranean cultural exchange and cooperation project, Cross Residencies in the Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Art Explora Festival.
This cross-residency program, in partnership with some 15 international residencies and cultural institutions around the Mediterranean basinaims to support contemporary creation from a transdisciplinary perspective.
Artists, curators and researchers from the various countries through which the Art Explora Festival will pass over 2 years, selected by the curators associated with this project, will be invited to spend a few days criss-crossing the Mediterranean aboard the ARTEXPLORER boat. This voyage of observation of natural ecosystems, tangible and intangible heritage, and issues related to the Mediterranean basin will be extended by a one-month residency in one of the stopover towns of this cultural odyssey, during which the residents will be able to familiarize themselves with the local artistic scene and meet with various cultural players and associations in the region.
Conceived as a platform for cross-border exchanges and narratives, this cross-residency program aims to unite a community of artists, scientists, art professionals and residency networks around crucial social, cultural and ecological issues linked to the Mediterranean.This program of direct support for contemporary creation and networking of residency structures retraces this Mediterranean cultural itinerancy through the eyes of artists.
First residency: Astrit Ismaili (Kosovo) at Triangle-Astérides, Marseille
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As a prelude to the launch of the Art Explora Festival in spring 2024, Art Explora Foundation has teamed up with Triangle-Astérides to offerKosovar artist Astrit Ismaili a one-month residency in Marseille, from September 20 to October 20, 2023. Triangle-Astérides is a major supporter of Marseille's artistic scene, and a key player in its international influence. It has established itself as a catalyst for fertile exchanges and encounters, which this cross-residency program aims to nurture and amplify. Benefiting from a workshop at Triangle-Astérides, a living and production grant and professional support during the residency, Astrit Ismaili will continue her research into the transformation of early plants into flowers and their dissemination in different geographical and socio-cultural contexts. This project will echo the socio-political and ecological questions surrounding migration that will be explored through the Art Explora Festival program.
Astrit Ismaili's residency project
Astrit Ismaili's recent research revolves around the notion of "limited creativity", referring to personal and historical figures who use creativity to overcome environmental and socio-political limitations. This research is derived from the development of the work MISS (2019), which began with a performance and extended into the production of her first LP, a short film (in progress) and a series of drawings that will be the final stage of this cycle. During this residency, Astrit Ismaili will focus on the pre-production phase of a sci-fi musical short entitled "The First Flower", which traces correspondences between the botanical world and queer communities, identifying shared strategies of resilience in the face of future ecological and political threats.
About the artist:
Artist, performer and choreographer, Astrit Ismaili holds a degree in performance from DasArts in Amsterdam and is a lecturer at the Institute Art, Gender and Nature in Basel. Recipient of the Mondriaan Established Artist Fellowship in 2021 and the Young Visual Artists Awards in 2011, Astrit Ismaili has also been in residence at ISCP in New York. Her works and performances have been shown at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2023), the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin (2022), Manifesta 14 in Pristina (2022), the Neues Museum in Nuremberg (2022), Impulstanz in Vienna (2021), the Athens Biennale (2021), the Salzburger Kunstverein (2020), SALTS in Basel (2018). Astrit Ismaili has co-organized the performance project "Prishtinë - mon amour" and Lost & Found, a series of events where artists, writers, scientists and musicians are invited to present hybrid works.
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