June 7th, 2013
Rethinking Residencies, The Factory of Art and Design, Copenhagen
The seminar is open to the public.
Q & A with Maria Gry Bregnbak
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.
When & Where
You are Here – Rethinking Residencies, The Factory of Art and Design, Copenhagen, June 7, 2013. The seminar is open to the public.
Read more about The Factory of Art and Design here.
Read more about residency programmes funded by the Danish Art Council here.
The seminar is supported by the Danish Arts Council.
(Opslag hentet fra kunst.dk)
