INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

(1) SLOVENIA
Since 2004, Flaxart Studios and the Institute for Contemporary Arts (Celje, Slovenia), have an ongoing collaboration, hosting 1 Artist in Residence per year in each city respectively. This collaborative exchange was born out of an exhibition of Belfast-based artists in the Likovni Salon, Celje in 2004.

The exhibition 'Belfast', was curated by Nevenka Sivavec. Artists hosted by Flaxart Studios on this exchange program include: Andreja Dzakusic, Mark Pozlep, Manja Vadla, Gregor Stamejcic and Jože Barŝi. Artists hosted by The Institute for Contemporary Arts Celje on this exchange program include: Paddy Bloomer. Peter Butcher, Lorraine Burrell, Susan MacWilliam, Joanna Karolini and Daniel Jewesbury.


Reading Capital, Jože Barŝi, July-August 2008

2008 EXCHANGE
Celje: 

The Institute for Contemporary Arts awarded Daniel Jewesbury the July 2008 residency slot in Celje. Phil Hession was also awarded an invitation to the DLUC Performance Festival in May 2008, an event also held in Celje. His flights and accommodation were included in this award.

Belfast:

In July and August 2008, Flaxart had the pleasure of hosting internationally-acclaimed artist Jože Barši, a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Jože delivered an artist talk on the subject of Das Kapital by Karl Marx. This talk was attended by a group of 10 visiting artists from E.S.A. (East Street Arts, Leeds, www.esaweb.org.uk) who enjoyed the debate on Jože's research.

(2) INDIA

Daniel Jewesbury set up the links for this residency back in the summer of 2006 through proposing an exchange between KHOJ (New Delhi) and Flax. Pooja Sood (Chairperson of KHOJ) and Aisling O'Beirn (Chairperson of Flax) set-up the groundwork for this partnership.

This exchange residency was initiated in October 2006 when Brendan Jamison travelled to India as the first Flax Artist to participate in the programme. He received a travel award from ACNI and KHOJ supplied the living accommodation for the one-month duration of the residency. It culminated in a solo exhibition in the KHOJ complex.

2008 EXCHANGE

On 31 March 2008, the first Indian artist, Ram Bali Chauhan arrived in Belfast for a one-month residency. He successfully adapted to the city and built a large-scale wax sculpture. The piece was titled 'Terror in Tower'.
As part of the International Residency Talks Programme, Ram Bali delivered a presentation of his art practice at the Golden Thread Gallery on Wednesday 9 April. The artist talk was filmed by local television station NVTV.

TERROR IN TOWER, April 2008
Ram Bali Chauhan