The imagine art after project boldly explores the idea that all human beings are works in progress. The project was devised to unite artists who originate from the same country but who for whatever reason – are now separated; geographically and politically.
Add to this the fact that all the artists come from countries that have been ravaged by recent and catastrophic socio-political events and you have some idea of the extremities that are being grappled with. The resulting dialogues and works are startling, moving and unexpected for the exiled artist, as much as for the one who stayed behind. Leaving or Staying- simple enough, but in terms of our world as it is, therein lies a minefield of emotions.
In its present version, imagine art after brings together seven artists who have left their homeland and seven who have stayed. A central aim of the project has been to open up the lines of communication where perhaps none would have been possible. In this way, curator Breda Beban imagined that facilitating an exchange of ideas, work and daily impressions via email – could place the artists into some virtual world where art, conversation and burgeoning friendship could be as potent as war and disruption. In other words, all the things that provide nourishment and inspiration for the artist and human being in spite of political attempts to separate and estrange people. A key feature of the partnerships was the desire to facilitate dialogue about the intersections of life and art.
The artists taking part come from countries whose people make the highest number of applications for asylum in the UK. Among them are Nigeria, Albania, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Serbia Montenegro and Ethiopia. The artists’ works, biographies and dialogues are exhibited online, and the reader/audience can freely access and join the dialogue via the Guardian talk boards. Texts, images and ideas are exchanged. The initial dialogues took place over six weeks, beginning on October 31, 2005.
By communicating about their life, their work and their experiences within two very different cultures, the curator felt that the conversations would lend insight into how life and art affect and change one another. Breban was also interested in how the experience of belonging, exchange and inspiration can shapes an artist’s identity.
The central concepts for the project were instigated in 2005 and are being commissioned and produced during 2006. The commissioning period will also be followed by an exhibition in London in 2007.
Imagine art after is the first project to be produced by Index Arts, as part of Index on Censorship magazine’s explorations of public art. Imagine art after is a unique and innovative online project that is enabling artists in different parts of the world to enter into dialogue. Index Arts have produced the event because its action supports and enhances freedom of expression in the visual arts.
Following the initial successes of the project, Index Arts now plans to host the project as a regular event, to be held every four years. Curator Breda Beban envisages the London exhibition as an alternative version of Documenta, the expansive visual art exhibition held in Kassel, Germany.
Imagine art after was the result of an inspired discussion between Breda Beban and Julia Farrington. “Expanding on the notion that when we are born we are genetically coded but then become a work in progress, “imagine art after” presents artists originating from the same country but who are now geo-politically separated,” says Beban.
Beban and Index Arts producer Farrington, have “…invited artists who live at the hard edge of political change to take the temperature on the contemporary world”. Producer, Farrington recognized that the web was an ideal interface for bringing together people who are related culturally but who are separated geographically and by circumstance.
Beban and Farrington found great supporters in Jo Confino, executive editor of Guardian Newspapers, Jane Glentworth at Guardian Unlimited and Henderson Mullin at Index on Censorship. The GU arts editor Andy Dickson lead the design team to create the pages as you see them today on: www.guardian.co.uk/imagineartafter
The sharing of images, text and video have been used to embark on a journey to produce new works, exchange views and engage in dialogue. The results of these virtual meetings and exchanges have been available to be viewed and shared with over seven million online readers.
“Imagine art after,” says Beban, “is an exhibition about the proximity of art and life against the backdrop of contemporary world politics.” It seems a natural partnership for the Index on Censorship magazine, founded in 1972 by writers, journalists and artists. Inspired by the British poet Stephen Spender the magazine took to the pen in defence of the human right to free expression.
Index Arts is now planning a full programme of events that will both reshape and connect the main programme every four years. The project will map a constantly shifting artistic and political landscape. “The list of 35 countries that formed the pool from which the chosen countries have come, will change,” says Beban. “The list is a map of unrest and the map will change.”
Curator Breda Beban is an artist whose work deals with contemporary notions of subjectivity and emotion that occur on the margins of big stories about politics, geography and love. Born in Serbia, Breda was raised in Macedonia and Croatia. Based in the UK since 1991, she lives and works in London and Sheffield. Breda Beban is a Professor of Visual Arts at Sheffield Hallam Univ.
Producer: Julia Farrington, Index Arts
Assistant Curators: Nina Pearlman and Margareta Kern
Interns: Eline van der Vlist, Katrina Hallowell, Stella Patrikova
imagine art after welcomes feedback. You can email the curators at: imagine.art.after@gmail.com
Visit the following websites for more information:
www.guardian.co.uk/imagineartafter
www.indexonline.org
www.documenta12.de
