Jerwood Collaborate!

Image courtesy of Array

 

Huge congratulations to Array, who have been selected for this exciting new programme. I’m delighted to have played a small part through making the initial nomination. More information on the Collaborate! programme is included below. I have also been recently appointed a Jerwood Artist Advisor.

 

This autumn, Jerwood Arts launches a major new platform showcasing early-career UK-based artists working in collaborative and collective practices. Coinciding with Frieze London 2019, Collaborate! responds to research about the challenges faced by early-career artists working in collaboration and provides a dedicated high profile opportunity that supports and promotes this method of artistic practice. It will present four new commissions alongside an accompanying events programme, contributing to critical dialogues about collaborative and collective practices in the visual arts sector.

 

Collaborate! takes a non-institutional approach to selection, inviting 12 curators from across the UK to nominate outstanding artist collaborations and collectives who they felt would benefit from support at a pivotal point in their careers. 21 artist collaborations and collectives were nominated and invited to submit a proposal with the final decision made by a selection panel comprising of: Kelly Best, artist; Antonio Roberts, artist and curator; Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts, Jerwood Arts and Lilli Geissendorfer, Director, Jerwood Arts (Chair). The exhibition is curated by Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts:

By supporting early career artist collectives and collaborations to develop new work on their own terms Jerwood Collaborate! will open an energetic and timely dialogue about what it means to produce art in this way. The selected artists use different systems of creative collaboration to interrogate essential subjects that affect us as a society. As the leading independent funder dedicated to supporting UK artists, curators and producers to develop and thrive, Jerwood Arts are delighted to launch this conversation during Frieze London and look to collaborate with visual arts organisations across the UK to consider how the sector can best support artists working collectively today.”

 

The selected artists are:

  • Array: a collective based in Belfast which creates collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting Northern Ireland. The group comprises of artists: Sighle Bhreatnach-Cashell, Sinéad Bhreatnach-Cashell, Alessia Cargnelli, Emma Campbell, Mitch Conlon, Clodagh Lavelle, Laura O’Connor, Grace McMurray, Stephen Millar and Thomas Wells.
  • Languid Hands: a London-based artistic and curatorial collaboration between DJ, filmmaker and programmer Rabz Lansiquot, and writer, facilitator and live art practitioner Imani Robinson.
  • Keiken + George Jasper Stone: a collaboration between Keiken, founded in 2016 by artists Tanya Cruz, Hana Omori and Isabel Ramos, and CGI artist and content designer George Jasper Stone. Based in London, Oxford and Penzance.
  • Shy Bairns: the collective practice of artists, designers and curators Izzy Kroese, George Gibson, Eleanor Haswell and Erin Blamire based in Manchester.

 

The nominating curators were selected for their innovative practices, geographical engagement and diverse knowledge of the UK art scene. The criteria for nomination was that artist groups should: consist of two or more members; be within the first five years of establishing their collaborative or collective practice; be based in the UK; and could be working with any medium or have a multidisciplinary practice.

 

The nominators were: John Eng Kiet Bloomfield, Curator at Wysing Arts Centre; Seán Elder, Researcher at Grand Union; Cicely Farrer, Programme Manager at Hospitalfield and Freelance Curator; Cédric Fauq, Curator at Nottingham Contemporary; Vickie Fear, Curator at Aspex Gallery and Independent Curator; Louise Hobson, Independent Curator and Producer; Elinor Morgan, Senior Curator at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA); Jane Morrow, Independent Curator and PhD Researcher; Mother Tongue (Tiffany Boyle & Jessica Carden), Independent Curators; Hannah Rose, Curator at The Gallery, Plymouth College of Art; Amanprit Sandhu, former Programme Curator: Residencies and Public Programme at Camden Arts Centre; and Zoe Watson, Curator of the Holden Gallery.

The selected artist collaborations and collectives will develop their new commissions over a four-month period with financial and curatorial support from the Jerwood Arts’ team. They will also undertake dedicated activity to develop their practices through self-identified mentoring, skills development and residencies.