The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art organized a symposium on artist residencies on Thursday, November 21, starting at 11:00 AM.
Symposium: Two Perspectives on Residencies in Visual Arts
Date and time: November 21, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Location: MMSU, Krešimirova 26c, Rijeka
Language: English
The symposium Two Perspectives on Residency Programs in Visual Arts brought together, through two complementary round tables, representatives and organizers of residencies as well as artists of different generations who have participated in residency programs. With this event, aim was to encourage discussion on the various roles of residency programs—as spaces for artistic research and experimentation, individual artistic development, as well as networking and international visibility.
The symposium presented best practices and different models of residency programs, exchange experiences regarding the challenges faced by organizers and artists (financial, administrative, conceptual), and promoted residency programs among artists, students, and the local community in Rijeka.
Since 2014, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has been running the Kamov Residency Program, originally established in 2011 by the Department of Culture of the City of Rijeka. Since 2020, MMSU has been joined by the Rijeka City Library and the Croatian Cultural Centre on Sušak as program partners. Through both long- and short-term stays, the Kamov Residency Program has hosted more than 500 artists, theorists, and creatives from Croatia and abroad, and has collaborated with numerous organizations, institutions, and individuals in the cultural sector whose work focuses on pushing the boundaries of traditional media and practices.
SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM
11:00 – Opening remarks
11:15 – First round table: Residency Organizers
Topics: challenges in securing funding, maintaining spaces, presenting artistic work to local communities and donors, and evaluating residency programs
Participants:
• Francesca Lazzarini (curator and art critic, director of AiR Trieste)
• Yasmín Martín Vodopivec (assistant director of MGLC Ljubljana, Švicarija)
• Tiziana and Isabella Pers (artists and founders of RAVE East Village Residency, Trivignano Udinese)
Organizers will share their experiences in running residency programs, discussing how they respond to administrative, logistical, and creative challenges, as well as how they evaluate program success.
Q&A – discussion, suggestions, and comments
12:15 – Break
12:30 – Second round table: Artists and Residency Programs
Topic: The importance of residency programs for artists – benefits, impact on artistic practice, and application processes
Participants:
• Nadija Mustapić, visual artist and full professor at the Academy of Applied Arts, University of Rijeka
• Katarina Kožul, visual artist and artistic director of the STIFF festival
• Siniša Ilić, visual artist
Artists will speak about their personal experiences, highlight important residencies they have participated in, and discuss how such programs have influenced their artistic practice.
Q&A – discussion, suggestions, and comments
1:30 PM – Lunch and coffee break
2:30 PM – Guided tour of the exhibition “Continuities and Disruptions” and a guided tour by Siniša Ilić of the installation “Surface Mining” at the BAD.co Archive