October 24 marks the launch of Index Arts’ exciting and innovative new visual art project, imagine. art. after. The project, hosted by Guardian Unlimited and curated by Brenda Beban, links refugee artists based in London with artists from their country of origin and will culminate in an exhibition in London in March 2006.
The project will feature dialogues between seven groups of artists who are marked by the same cultural origins but who are now geographically separated. All participating artists are from one of the thirty-five countries whose people, according to the Home Office, make the most applications for asylum in the UK.
imagine.art.after explores the proximity of art and life against the backdrop of recent historical events and shifting values and views that are reshaping our understanding of the contemporary world. It is a focused exploration into motivations, possibilities and expressions as practised by individual artists. All selected artists offer unique insight into how certain individual motivations and expressions are shaped by the contemporary notion of geopolitical belonging and cultural coding. The aim of the project is to open lines of communication where they would otherwise not exist, enabling artists to exchange ideas and work, and also to discuss their experiences in an online forum.
Participating artists are:
The project also aims to emulate the experience of visiting international exhibitions in a wide range of venues, from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Teheran to small independent art space in East London.
Exhibition and dialogue
In addition to their work being exhibited online, each artist will engage in a dialogue with their partner — hosted on the Guardian message boards — in order to exchange text, images and ideas. The dialogues will begin on October 31, and continue for six weeks until December 11.
By communicating about their experience in two very different societies, it´s hoped that the artists´ conversations with each other will lend insight into how life and art interrelate, and how identity is shaped by notions of belonging.
The curator, Breda Beban, was raised in Macedonia and Croatia, and settled in the UK in 1991. She lives and works in London and Sheffield, and is professor of visual arts at Sheffield Hallam University.
Other projects
Index Arts is a multi-art form programme producing high quality performance and visual art events, bringing artists from socially marginalised communities into mainstream arts arenas in London. Other projects include Ten Feet Away, a user led participatory and performing arts programme for socially marginalized people, working with arts against prejudice and stigma and challenging stereotypes of homelessness, a forthcoming film programme, and concerts of under-represented music.
