Engagement with both Immigrants and Danes in the projects we initiate and support is an absolute must … how else can we CO-CREATE the spaces we live in? We are working towards this goal with the following projects: In 2017 we are having a bit of a shake-up!! We shall be re-organizing ourselves internally making a mild separation between administrative and artistic roles. We are also establishing ourselves as an association (forening) with a board of trustees. If everything goes to plan, we hope to invite you to celebrate the new developments within our organisation at a big summer party in Copenhagen. Another plan is to get activities going in other parts of Denmark this year, with trips to meet artists and volunteers in Aalborg and Aarhus planned for the summer. Please do get in touch if you already wish to be part of the core team in either city!!
Throughout the spring we shall be updating the website, among other things with an application form which shall be used for all open calls that we put out. This year we shall also open up for individual artists to apply for support for individual projects. Guidelines for application will be available shortly. We shall also be adding the information about the association (forening) and provide you with more detailed information about our overall short and long-term strategy and goals. We shall keep you posted about all of this stuff as and when it happens!!
Food Memories
Food Memories is a collaboration between ImmigrantART and the women’s integrationion center Kringlebakken involving the artists Mayra Navarette (photographer originally from El Salvador) and Sacramento Rosello (writer from Spain). The project as a whole is based on a series of life-writing workshops held during the ladies Danish language classes. The workshops used food and memories of food as a vehicle to explore how we adapt and create something new, strong and beautiful. The ladies who participated in the lessons and some of the staff at Kringlebakken each wrote a story about their food memory. They then had a photoshoot with Marya who took portrait pictures of them, alone and with their food items. In March 2017 we held an exhibition at Nordvest Bibliotek, where twelve portraits with the food items were displayed accompanied by an extract from each of their life-stories. We are now in the process of producing a calendar, and later on this year a book will be published with an introduction to the project, an explanation of the process, the images, the life stories, and last but not least, the recipes of the dishes that formed the memories. We are currently looking for opportunities to take the exhibition around the country Please contact us if you have any ideas!
ArtWork at Café Mellemrummet
ImmigrantART has been invited to do an open call for artists to volunteer to decorate some of the walls of Café Mellemrummet, which also functions as the reception for Globalhagen Hostel. Both are a part of the NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke / Act!onAid. There are three areas to be worked on: the very back wall and the wall perpendicular to it opposite the window; the wall immediately opposite the entrance; and the two unisex toilet doors. Artists may work alone or as a team, and are encouraged to put forward ideas that are in line with the values of MS, and also the atmosphere at the café and the themes of the hostel. See the full open call here … coming soon!!
Asia in Circulations Photographic Exhibition
In June 2017 the Asian Dynamics Initiative at the University of Copenhagen will hold their annual conference. ImmigrantART will contribute with a photographic exhibition with images of the superdiversity that exists on the vast continent of Asia. More details will follow very soon, and in the meantime, here is a littel more about the conference: “We attend to the ways in which new connected histories, flows and connections both within, and beyond, territoriality are taking shape. What kind of circulatory worlds are produced through these multiple connections forged across temporalities via commodity trade, investments, human migration, technology, tourism, religion, art, literature and other forms of cultural consumption? How has Asia historically circulated beyond its territorial boundaries? And how do these circulations shape the contemporary world?” Read more here.
Day of the Dead
In collaboration with the Mexican Embassy in Denmark, ImmigrantART shall organize an international art exhibition at the embassy celebrating the Day of the Dead (October/November 2017). The day is celebrated in Mexico and other countries in South and Central America. It is believed that “the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31, and the spirits of all deceased children (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them.” Read more here. We are currently working out the final details and the call will be open to visual artists resident in Denmark from all nationalities very soon.
Artist Dinner
In December 2016 we initiated a new happening called the Artist Dinner, where individual artists invite other artists of the same or mixed artistic disciplines to their homes to enjoy a meal together and speak about their work, their ups and downs and much more. Three dinners have taken place so far (April 2017), and we intend to continue with the concept throughout the year. The aim is to hold one dinner per month. Read more here
