SYLT RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

Call for Applications: South Africa Visual Art Residency: Mid-Career Visual Artists

The Sylt Foundation calls all mid-career contemporary visual artists to apply for the two-month South African Visual Artist’s Residency offered as part of the Sylt Foundation Residency Programme. One residency will be awarded annually to South African visual artists who have a sustained career profile of a minimum of seven to ten years in the contemporary visual arts sector.

The Foundation is located on the island of Sylt, off the coast of Hamburg, Germany. The Foundation’s Residency Programme has been running for several years, offering opportunities to South African and international visual artists, writers and photographers. The programme seeks to provide artists with opportunities to consolidate their practice or develop new works and ideas and is managed under the directorship of literary scholar and curator Indra Wussow.

With strong links to South Africa, the Sylt Foundation has established a residency specifically for South African visual artists. Luminaries such as Strijdom van der Merwe, Mbongeni Buthelezi, Paul Emmanuel, Bernie Searle, Santu Mofokeng, and Mary Sibanda have all previously benefited from this programme. Later this year, the Foundation will be launching the African Writers Residency Programme.

“The South African visual art industry is in an exciting phase, but it is crucial for artists to spend time reflecting on their own practice and career choices”, said Wussow. “Opportunities like this residency provide professional ‘reflection’ space, distance and time at a key point in an artist’s career. This is time that is difficult to set aside in the day to day running of an active career”.

The residency offers a two month working visit to the Foundation. It provides an opportunity for creative reflection and research and enables the artist to participate in inter-cultural dialogue with other fellow international artists in residence. This exciting experience can expand the artist’s artistic vision, enrich their art practice, extend their network and open future career opportunities.

A two month stay is offered in a fully furnished, one bedroom studio apartment situated on the Foundation’s grounds on the island. Each apartment has a computer, internet access and free WIFI. A well-equipped kitchen provides self-catering facilities. The residency is unlike others, in that it doesn’t focus on the production of artwork during the residency as an outcome.

While the situation is suitable for many kinds of practice and research, it is not a studio based-residency and hence not appropriate for the production of large-scale or sculptural works.

“Our aim with this is to provide artists with an opportunity to develop ideas, research or even reflect on projects”, says Wussouw, ”So much emphasis is placed on the production and exhibiting of work, as well as managing projects and opportunities, that artists find very little time for the vital process of conceptualization, reflection and research. So many awards, competitions and residencies challenge artists through defined goals, outputs and production imperatives. Artists need to have the time to focus on developing their practice by engaging meaningfully with the ideas and work that interests and drives them. This is critical for the conceptualizing of work that sustains their careers. This process is often lost when balancing the pressures of industry, commissions and career imperatives.

“Making contemporary art is as much as about planning and thinking as it is about production,” continues Wussouw. “Unlike many other residency opportunities, this is not solely output focused, but designed for artists to utilize this time as best suits their creative needs. It can be likened to the research sabbaticals available to academics”.

Closing date for entries is June 22, 2012, at 16h00 and no late applications will be considered. Only digital applications will be accepted.

More information on www.artsourcesouthafrica.co.za or Art Source South Africa’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/JoziArtLabSyltFoundation#