MEDIA Release
Wednesday 15 March 2017
2017-18 Australia Council International Residencies announced
The Australia Council for the Arts has today announced the 21 successful artistsfor the 2017-18 International Residencies program. The residencies will provide the artists with the opportunity to develop their practiceand build knowledge, networks and partnerships.
Australia Council for the Arts Chief Executive Tony Grybowski congratulated the successful artists and said the Council’s research revealed that artists who undertook residencies felt that it provided critical time and space to advance their professional practice and immerse themselves in a new arts context, community and market.
“An international residency enriches the work of the artist and contributes to Australia’s engagement with creative innovation and meaningful cultural exchange.This is a unique experience for artists to immerse themselves in their chosen artform within a global context, creating connections and partnerships that will support and influence their future work,” Mr Grybowski said.
The Australia Council has offered international residencies since 1979, forging relationships with some of the best international residency providers and delivering world-class opportunities forAustralian artists across North America, Europe, and Asia.
The 2017-18 Australia Council for the Arts International Residency artists are:
ACME, London / CLAIRE LAMBE (Northcote VIC)DIANA SMITH (Elizabeth Bay NSW)
BR Whiting, Rome / JOSEPHINE ROWE (West Hobart TAS)
KRISTEL THORNELL(Rochester, NEW YORK)
Cité International des Arts Studio, Paris / MELISSA ASHLEY (Riverhills QLD)
MOHINI CHANDRA (Potts Point NSW)
NICOLAGUNN (East Melbourne VIC)
RACHEL ARIANNE OGLE (Mount Lawley WA)
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre, NY / MISH GRIGOR (Werrington NSW)
Helsinki International Artist Programme, Helsinki / LAITH McGREGOR (Kuluin QLD)
MATT SHILCOCK (Adelaide SA)
NATALIE ABBOTT (Carlton North VIC)
TESSA RAPAPORT (Newtown NSW)
Keesing Studio, Paris / MICHELLE WRIGHT (Eltham VIC)
WAYNE MACAULEY (Brunswick VIC)
Kluge-Ruhe, Virginia / CAROL McGREGOR (Ashgrove QLD)
JULIE GOUGH (West Hobart TAS)
KünstlerhausBethanien, Berlin / BROOK ANDREW (Seddon VIC)
Nashville Songwriters’ Residency, USA / LARISSA TANDY (Murchison VIC)
Omi International Arts Centre (Dance), New York / ANNA SEYMOUR (Northcote VIC)
Omi International Arts Centre (Music), New York / JEREMY ROSE (Marrickville NSW)
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The Australia Council’s International Residencies Program(IRP) is an invaluable platform for individual artists to further their practice in a global context, exploring new markets and opening up opportunities for international collaborations. It ensures that the future of Australian international arts activity is supported through extensive knowledge building, networking, skills development, and the presence of Australian work across Europe, America, and Asia.
The Council’s partnerships with world-class international residency providers enables a suite of programs that support the development of new work, acceleration of artistic practice, and cultural exchange. As a result of these opportunities writers have published novels, plays and poetry collections during their residencies and artists across art forms have gone on to divide their practice between continents, form long-term collaborations with their international counterparts, and exhibit and present work in some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, theatres, and venues.
Visual artist Rebecca Baumann, who participated in a three month residency at HIAP in 2016 saidher Australia Council residency was timely.
“My residencyenabledme to undertake research that delivered outcomes across a wide spectrum – from research and development of new innovative work, an exhibition of some of these outcomes at the Art Gallery of Western Australia and helped to create opportunities for further exhibitions in Australia and overseas (New Zealand, Los Angeles and Hong Kong) which have the potential to deliver further market and audience development,” Ms Baumann said.
The IRP sits within Australia Council’s wider international program of activity, which include outbound programs that enable artists, arts mediators and arts organisations to participate in international platforms and inbound programs which support incoming delegations in conjunction with key Australian events. These activities facilitate and build on the global engagement capability of the Australian arts sector.
Research into artist residencieswas conducted by the Australia Council in 2014-15 to better understand the impact of support on artist’s’ careers and ensure that the Council’s international arts engagement maximises its impact and value for our artists in residence. The artists who participated in the research revealed:
-Two-thirds of artists who undertook residencies felt that it allowed them time and space to develop their artistic practice;
-Two-thirds of established artists said that international residencies improved or expanded their practice and also expanded their networks of contacts;
-Three-quarters of artists said by the end of their international residencies, they had gained confidence in themselves as an artist;
-More than half of the artists undertaking a residency early on in their career said this connection with other artists was a particularly strong driver; and
-Across the board, at all stages of their career, two-thirds of artists created new work and a similar proportion felt that by the end of their residency their public profile had increased.
This research builds upon the Australia Council for the Arts International Arts Activity – Australian Arts Sectorreport, a larger body of research released in September 2015, which highlights the value of the Council’s strategic approach to international arts development, identifying high-value international opportunities for Australian artists.
Visit the Australia Council’s grants programs and international opportunities for more information.
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The 2017-18 Australia Council for the Arts International Residency artists
ACME, London–Claire Lambe(Northcote VIC) and Diana Smith(Elizabeth Bay NSW)
Claire Lambe will spend six months at the ACME Studio in East London gathering archive television footage and undertaking research, forming the foundation for a new body of work. She will also take advantage of the mentorship and professional development program offered during the residency period.
Australian artist, writer and academic, Diana Smith will undertake the first stage of a new creative project ‘Women at/and Work’ in London that intends to generate dialogue and cross-cultural exchange about feminist histories and futures in Australia and the UK, through a series of performances and events.
BR Whiting,Rome –Josephine Rowe (West Hobart, TAS) and KristelThornell (Rochester, NYC)
Josephine Rowe will build upon a collection of short stories ‘Horse Latitudes’ which follow characters moved beyond the boundaries of their known worlds, either by choice or by force. The collection will also feature new works inspired by other locations, exploring how geographical placement impacts interior landscapes.
KristelThornell intends to use the residency to research, draft and edit her third novel Savage Nostalgia, narrated in the third person, exploring Italian-Australian cultural intermingling by shifting between viewpoints of five protagonists, exploring the themes of belonging and alienation to attachments of time and place.
Cité International des Arts Studio, Paris – Melissa Ashley(Riverhills QLD), Mohini Chandra (Potts Point NSW), Nicola Gunn (East Melbourne VIC), and Rachel Arianne Ogle(Mount Lawley WA)
Melissa Ashley will focus on researching, drafting and writing her new historical novel ‘The Bee and the Orange Tree’, which dramatizes the life and career of Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, a French writer of fairy tales, set on the cusp of Enlightenment – a time of great freedom for aristocratic French women writers.
The Paris Residency will provide Mohini Chandra with the opportunity to undertake research and development for her current project ‘Kikau Street: Paradise Lost’, which explores indenture experience, migration and memory of diaspora communities within the globalized region through photography.
As a performer, writer, director and dramaturg, Nicola Gunn’s residency will allow her time and space to develop a new solo performance, build artistic relationships in Europe and explore potential collaborations with different artforms. Nicola will also present herwork ‘Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster’.
Rachel Arianne Ogle is a West Australian dance artist who will develop and challenge her dance practice during her residency, focusing on improvisation in performance integrated into choreographic processes. It will culminate in a series of short solo works, the foundation for a new full-length work.
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre (EMPAC), NY – Mish Grigor(Werrington NSW)
Director and performer, Mish Grigor will develop a new performance work ‘Situation Tragedy’ that satirizes the notion of the singular Australian ‘identity’ and seeks to complicate historical narratives, sitting at the intersection of experimental forms and popular entertainment.
Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP), Helsinki– Laith McGregor(Kuluin QLD), Matt Shilcock(Adelaide SA), Natalie Abbott (Carlton North VIC) and Tessa Rapaport(Newtown NSW)
Laith McGregor will examine conceptual relationships between fiction and non-fiction through the act of drawing, exploring the work of iconic Finnish artist ToveJansson, investigating drawing traditions, social praxis, experimental/intuitive mark-making and semiotics of metaphor through research.
South-Australian based dance artist and 2ndKyu in BudoTaijutsu, Matt Shilcockwill research and develop material in collaboration with Helsinki dance companies for use in group and solo work, culminating in an immersive performance work.
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Melbourne-based choreographer and performer, Natalie Abbott will embark on a 3-month dance making, risk-taking and art-expanding residency engaging in mentorship, creative development.She will also focus on establishing a practice within an EU context, culminating in a series of performances.
Incorporate real and invented artefacts and events into a semi-fictional narrative describing possible future and forgotten pasts, Tessa Rapaport will research and develop a new work exploring Finnish mushroom cultures in relation to Anthropocenediscourse, climate change and the nonhuman.
Keesing Studio, Paris– Michelle Wright(Eltham VIC) and Wayne Macauley(Brunswick VIC)
A fluent French speaker and recipient of several major Australian and International literary awards, Michelle Wright will undertake research and continue work on the manuscript for her second novel which explores themes of identity, belonging, communication and isolation.
Well-known Melbourne writer Wayne Macauley will spend six months in Paris working on a suite of new short fiction. Taking advantage of the Cité’s vast network of contacts in Paris and wider France, Wayne will seek out opportunities for his current and future literary works.
Kluge-Ruhe, Virginia – Carol McGregor(Ashgrove QLD)and Julie Gough (West Hobart TAS)
Of Wathaurung and Scottish descent, Carol McGregor will make a contemporary possum skin cloak whilst sharing the history and meaning of Aboriginal possum skin cloak making and wearing in Australia, through workshops, presentations, lectures and discussions.
Mixed-media artist, curator and writer, Julie Gough will exhibit video projection works, investigating place/time/object anomalies and outcomes of colonization, exploring its impact on viewers. She will also engage with Native American artists about similarities and differences in their work.
KünstlerhausBethanien, Berlin–Brook Andrew(Seddon VIC)
Dedicated to the advancement of contemporary visual arts, the international cultural centre in Berlin will host Brook Andrew for a 12-month residency, allowing him to advance his research into the representation of Indigenous loss by learning from German memorials to genocide and fascism to create new art works.
Nashville Songwriters’ Residency, USA– Larissa Tandy(Murchison VIC)
Mentored byMark Moffatt, one of Australia’s most successful producers, Larissa Tandy will spend three months in the Nashville USA music scene, developing song writing skills, building creative and business networks, and connecting with other artists to co-write and collaborate on music.
OmiInternational Arts Centre (Dance), New York–Anna Seymour(Northcote VIC)
Born profoundly deaf, Anna Seymour is a contemporary dancer and choreographer who will spend three weeks with 10 accomplished international dance artists engaging in collaboration,creative exchange and improvisation under the direction of the Dance Omi Director and an alumni mentor.
OmiInternational Arts Centre (Music), New York–Jeremy Rose(Marrickville NSW)
Based in New York alongside a dozen international Fellows, Jeremy Rose will spend two and half weeks in a unique collaborative music dialogue enriching his artistic practice as a saxophonist and composer, fostering new connections and networks for potential future collaborative projects.
Media contact:
Justine Sywak, Media Manager, Australia Council for the Arts
Tel: (02) 9215 9030Email: