The origination story of the platform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A colourful crew is gathered on the stairs of LocHal for this event, which is moderated by Astrid Cats, the director of TAC Eindhoven and a member of the platform\u2019s steering committee. Atty Bax, visual artist and consultant\/curator at Kunstloc Brabant, provides the introduction. Kunstloc (formerly \u2018BKKC\u2019) organised the day in partnership with the recently established AIR platform Brabant. The platform\u2019s history, however, stretches back to an earlier lecture by Pascal Gielen, who is slated to speak later in the day. It was this lecture that motivated Bax, along with TransArtists*, to explore the current state of affairs at the artist\u2019s residency in Brabant in 2016. A course that concluded in March 2018 with Working on the margins<\/em>, a working conference to discuss the position of AIRs in Brabant in relation to international artists\u2019 residencies. The working conference was the starting shot for the formation of a network of Brabant AIRs who joined forces to strengthen their position and to profile themselves both locally and internationally, which led to the establishment of the AIR platform Brabant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the network\u2019s priority is to raise the profile of the Brabant AIRs, they also situate the participating residencies within a broader context. On the Air begins with this context. , Rebecca Nelemans, on behalf of the Mondriaan Fund, works as a ‘regional broker South’ to investigate the cultural developments in the provinces of Zeeland, North Brabant and Limburg. She kicks off today\u2019s event and briefly explains the Mondriaan Fund’s policy on artists\u2019 residencies by showing the schemes listed on the website of the Mondriaan Fund. From \u2018talent development\u2019 to \u2018guest studios\u2019, you can find information about guest studios \u2014 another name for AIRs \u2014 at home and abroad. The Mondriaan Fund has selected a limited number of studios for which artists can apply for a subsidy. At the end of presentation by Nelemans, Lex van Lith, director of the Beeldenstorm Foundation, recounts what it is like to participate as a guest studio with the Mondriaan Fund. His experience with Beeldenstorm was very positive, though considerable time passed before they were included in this scheme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n *TransArtists, a knowledge centre\nwhose goal is to inform the cultural sector and makers in particular about AIRs\nlocated within the confines of the Netherlands and beyond, was founded in 1997<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next speaker is Marleen Kappe\nwho, following her 2018 residency at PARK Tilburg, tells us about her\nexperience with this guest studio. Kappe explains that her work, which\ninitially consisted mainly of figurative drawings with many human forms, has\nundergone a significant development. She is increasingly expanding her\ndrawings, and installations are acquiring a larger share. With the PARK\nresidency, Kappe seized the opportunity to investigate her drawings and\ninstallations within an area measuring 200m2<\/sup>. In answer to a question from the\naudience about why exactly Kappe wished to do the residency, she answers that\nshe wanted time to get stuck into her own work. For an exhibit, Cats explains,\nshe normally has a week of set-up time, while the residency provided her with\ntwo months. This time allowed her to make mistakes, which are just as vital for\nthe overall process. Another interesting element of the residency, Kappe\nemphasises, is the opening for the public. In consultation with PARK, the space\nwas opened to the public for a few days during the construction of her work.\nThe public were very engaging and initiated conversations with her. Kappe was\nalso motivated by the fact that visitors were inspired by her work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Kappe’s turn at speaking, Esther\nvan Rosmalen, a member of the platform’s steering committee, opens the\nconversation with Rob Moonen van Park, asking about his experience of the\nresidency. He explains that it is difficult to attract enough members of the public\nduring the summer months, but that he wants to use that time for the artists.\nAs a solution, PARK has decided to have their space used as a residency space\nduring the summer, which makes a nice addition to Park’s exhibition programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The third speaker of the day is\nPascal Gielen, professor of cultural sociology at the Antwerp Research\nInstitute for the Arts or ARIA. Gielen talks about the book Contemporary Artist Residencies, Reclaiming Time\nand Space, which<\/em> he co-wrote with Finns Taru Elfving and Irmeli\nKokko. Gielen explains that, in the book, he divided the AIRs into four ‘types\u2019\nor what he refers to as \u2018chronotopies\u2019: a concept taken from literary theory\nthat refers to how situations in time and space are described in words. \u2018As\nworking people, we understand the world through time and space\u2019, asserts\nGielen. Therefore, a place in and of itself does not constitute a residency, he\nsays. It only becomes a residency once a certain period of time has been defined\nfor the use of the space. According to Gielen, these periods often fall between\nas short as two months and, occasionally, as long as 5 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gielen calls the first chronotopy \u2018My\nChronotope’. This form is aimed at individualism; the artist can \u2018do what he or\nshe wants\u2019. For this chronotopy, Gielen identifies the themes of ‘innate\ntalent’ and ‘introspection’. For residencies, an artist seeks out the\ncreativity ‘in him or herself’. In light of this, the residencies that\ncorrespond with this approach tend to be fairly isolated. The second chronotopy\nis the \u2018Network Chronotope\u2019, which also focuses on individualism, although\nthoroughly connected with the art world. As such, this type of artists\u2019\nresidency is typified by many public moments. Gielen cites themes like\n‘springboard’ and ‘exhibitionism’. These AIRs are about more than quality; the\nwork produced must also be clearly visible to the public, so they can function\nas a catalyst for the artist’s career. By way of example, Gielen cites\nAmsterdam\u2019s Rijksakademie. \u2018Alter Chronotope\u2019, the third chronotype, refers to\nartists who are looking for something else for their inspiration. For this\nchronotype, the dominant themes are ‘content’, ‘social engagement’ and ‘the artisanal\u2019.\nThis form is popular today, says Gielen, and it is fairly easily to receive subsidisation\nfor it. The fourth and final form of AIR is the ‘Embedded Chronotope’, in which\nartists seek a sustainable relationship with the world. According to Gielen,\nartists look for these kinds of AIRs as escapism or in order to work outside of\nthe system to shape their artistic practices in their own way. Gielen concludes\nwith the observation that, during the 19th<\/sup> century, production was\ncentral everywhere, while the 20th<\/sup> century was distinguished by\nreflection. Gielen believes that this century will be dominated by \u2018the\npractising person\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After his presentation, several\ninteresting questions are fielded from audience members, which Cats summarises with\nthe following conclusion: \u2018It sounds like artists themselves are developing a dynamic\nmodel in which they go from residency to residency.\u2019 She then asks Gielen, \u2018How\ndo you see that?\u2019 Gielen agrees with this point, believing that artists\u2019\nresidencies increasingly form a kind of \u2018private economic system\u2019 with\n\u2018professional residency artists\u2019 who are entirely dependent on them. This, in\nturn, makes them dependent on what Gielen terms \u2018biennial hysteria\u2019. In his\nview, it is a good that these artists can escape from the marketplace. He adds,\nhowever, that residencies are not always optimal, referencing the financial\naspects in particular, \u2018These artists most likely lead a sober existence.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the break, Van Rosmalen unveils\nthe AIR platform Brabant website. She explains the vision for the platform and\nthe thirteen AIR programmes that have already joined. The AIRs all have their own\npage on the site for a clear overview not only about where they are located,\nbut also what makes them unique. The website contains far more than practical\ninformation. It also has stories about the artists\u2019 experience with residencies\nand, of course, the reports from the platform itself. Still under development,\nthe website is currently being managed by the steering committee of the\nplatform. In the near future, the goal is for the AIRs themselves to provide\ninformation about the artists in residence and their activities. The steering\ncommittee will be perform the final editing of the website. As part of the\nplatform\u2019s current development, the emphasis now lies on the visual arts, but\nthe intention is to subsequently engage various disciplines that prioritise the\nautonomy of professional practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The visitors to On the Air, which is\ncomprised of artists, policymakers and professionals, conclude the day by\nparticipating in three work sessions that are divided into four themes: talent\ndevelopment, internationalisation, financing and reciprocity. These sessions\nallow the visitors to sink their teeth into the themes, and they prove to be a\nsuitable moment for artists and policymakers alike to dive into discussions\nwith each other. New ideas take shape that will nourish the platform not only\nfor their own improvement, but also for the role they occupy in relationship to\nthe artists. The participants also pinpoint a need for more exchanges and\ngreater coordination with what can be very abstract concepts. The lively\ndiscussions at the end of the afternoon testify to the substantial need to\nexchange information about AIRs while underlining the relevance of initiatives\nlike AIR platform Brabant, a promise for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author: Veerle Driessen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Report of 24 May 2019 meeting The Netherlands has a significant number of artist-in-residence programmes or AIRs. Of these AIRs \u2014 places where artists can, live, experiment and reflect \u2014 a great many are to be found in Brabant. Not every maker or policymaker knows where to find these places, the very reason for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2207,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions\/2207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/marleenkappepark2018041-1024x683.jpeg\")
The importance of residencies for artists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nHer enthusiasm contagious, Kappe\u2019s presentation provides a clear picture of the\nimportance of AIRs for artists. Above all, she talks about the crossroads she\nfound herself at in her career, and the space and time the residency afforded\nher that gave direction to her work. During the question round, Cat notes, \u2018What\nstrikes me is that you feel like you\u2019ve worked extremely hard. Sometimes, time\nin a studio space seems like a blissful rest, but that\u2019s not what it is.\u2019\nResponding to a comment from Cats, Kappe explains that, as a beginning artist,\nyou often hold down side jobs, so you are not able to work ‘intensively’. At\nPARK, she had two full months to focus solely on her art. Through PARK, Kappe\nhas, in her own words, arrived at a completely different point while managing\nto progress a step further. Normally, these developments are far slower.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61590027_10217009033951537_652502383774924800_n.jpg\")
Chronotopy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
www.airbrabant.nl<\/h2>\n\n\n\n