We started the year with our second Artist Dinner organized by photographic artist Angélique Sanossian. By all accounts it was a wonderful evening, connections were made and some are already planning stuff together – brilliant! The next dinner will be hosted by visual artist and filmmaker Maria Dubin on 28 February in Copenhagen, and we are planning dinners in Vejle, Aalborg and Aarhus for March. Love these comments from some of those who were at Angélique’s place:
We have had several meetings within our core team as we are striving to become more efficient and construct a solid structure within which we can evolve and better facilitate the access and participation of foreign artists living in Denmark. Part of that strategy is to improve our communications, establish ourselves as a registered association, and ensure that we evolve in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
Another focus for early 2017 is on expanding our network. We have a Facebook group of over 400 members and we would like to hear more from you … the Artist Dinners are a step towards activation, and we are speaking about starting up two more recurring events which will be announced very soon.
I (Nicol) participated in the conference War, Identity and their Impact on Citizenship organizaed by the Syrian Cultural Institute. There was great attendance by extrememly knowledgeable academics, researchers, practitioners and citizens from different parts of the world. I contributed to a workshop on Identity Before and After the War, where I drew on my own experiences of identity in light of black history, and black history in Britain (in the context of identity before and after conflict), and also on the experiences of the Syrian artists I have been working together with in Immigrant Art. I look forward to reading about the outcomes of the conference soon.
In February we shall be updating our website, we’ll be holding a training course for members of the Immigrant Art core team, and we shall be putting in the necessary work for the association to get up and running, officially. We shall also be working on funding applications and continuing to grow our network of artists and partner institutions.
In March we will start our activities in film, kicking off with a screening of End of the Earth by Malek Shafi’i, which we were unable to screen during #Artival2016. The screening will be in conjunction with a documentary film series being organised by Borups Højskole during the month of March. We shall also start up our film club in collaboration with Husets Bio in Copnehagen.
On that note, I shall leave you to get on with the rest of your day … Have a wonderful week!!
Best
Nicol
