Hi, everyone! Next weekend we are organising a panel discussion about virtual art residencies. We’ve been closely observing this phenomenon and gathering data for a while now, and would like to meet online to talk about the potential of this format and future scenarios for the residency field in general.

On November 22nd at 12:00 Moscow time we invite you to join us in Zoom for the panel discussion “Beyond distance: how art residencies are migrating online”.

Guest speakers are Eliza Roberts (Executive director of Res Artis), Kristina Gorlanova (Head of the National Center of Contemporary Art in Ural), Lizaveta Matveeva (curator at the CEC ArtsLink Back Apartment residency in St. Petersburg), and Anna Zavediy (curator of the Kronstadt residency run by the National Center of Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg).
Anastasia Patsey from SPAR will be moderating the event.

The event will be held in Zoom. Please register here to receive a link.

Art residencies have been an essential component in the contemporary art system for several decades. They are the engine of professional mobility and provide artists with important material and immaterial resources, offer sustainable environments for creating and presenting art, engaging in a dialogue with local communities and exchanging with other art professionals. The impact of art residencies is not limited by individual art practices. Both cultural institutions, communities and whole territories can feel the positive effects of residency programs. 

The COVID-19 pandemic brought art residencies to a state of a serious crisis. Many programs had to stop operating or were paused for an undetermined period. In the spring months of 2020 some artists found themselves stuck in guest studios without being able to get back home. This situation makes us reconsider not only the format of art residencies, but the concept of travelling itself. And it turns out that travelling and an art residency doesn’t always have to involve a physical transition from point A to point B. Right now we see art residencies taking a completely new turn in their development: they’re migrating online.

Virtual residencies have been actively developing for years now, with the rise of digital and net art. But in 2020 this format became especially relevant as it is nearly the only option left for international residency programs that can’t host artists on site and look for new opportunities to continue their work.

During the panel discussion participants will discuss how residency programs in different regions have been surviving during the pandemic, as well as possible future scenarios for the residency filed.

With generous support of the International Relief Fund of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut and other partners: www.goethe.de/relieffund.

Part of the Art Weekend public program in the framework of the
II Curatorial Forum