kim? Contemporary Arts Centre announces the second iteration of the kim? Residency Award, this year in partnership with International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York. The current nominees, artists selected for this Award by the international jury, are as follows: Ēriks Apaļais, Ieva Epnere, Inga Meldere and Katrīna Neiburga.
kim? Residency Award invites to take a closer look at the finalists:
Ēriks Apaļais
Ieva Epnere
Inga Meldere
Katrīna Neiburga
The awards ceremony will be held on 31 May 2016 at The Mill.
The winner of the kim? Residency Award 2016 will spend two months in New York in the Fall of 2016 as the first resident artist from Latvia in ISCP’s 20 year history. The award ceremony for the kim? Residency Award will take place on 31 May at The Mill in Riga, with the participation of Kari Conte, Director of Programs and Exhibitions, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York. During her visit to Riga, Kari Conte will meet the nominees and visit their studios to discuss her impressions and together with kim? Contemporary Arts Centre select the winner. Prior to this, on 30 May, Kari Conte will give a public lecture about the residency structures and programming strategies at ISCP.
The annual kim? Residency Award is an opportunity for a single Latvian artist or a group of two artists to take part in a residency program with one of kim?’s partner organizations. In the summer of 2015, the first winner of the kim? Residency Award Darja Meļņikova spent two months at KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, while the 2017 winner will head off to the Gasworks Gallery, Studios and International Residency Programme in London.
The aim of the kim? Residency Award is to support promising Latvian artists who have already gained some international recognition in strengthening their professional skills, competitiveness and international contacts, and to raise the profile of Latvian art as a whole. The three-year residency cycle will conclude during Latvia’s centenary in 2018 with a group exhibition by the residents in Riga.
Patron of the kim? Residency Award 2016: Vita Liberte, Attorney at Law , says “The award presented by kim? Contemporary Art Centre is the only award of this kind in Latvia and an opportunity for a Latvian artist to benefit from a residency of international significance. I am glad to support this initiative, for I am convinced that the time spent in New York will be an invaluable experience and will inspire the receiving artist’s future creative work, as well as allow to establish lasting connections with other art professionals.”
The ten artists nominated in round one of the kim? Residency Award in the fall of 2015 all met the criteria for the award: they actively participate in exhibitions and parallel events in Latvia and abroad, they are aged under 40 years and they have taken part in at least one kim? project in the last six years.
After evaluating the artists’ portfolios, the finalists for the kim? Residency Award were chosen by the following international jury members: Alessio Antoniolli and Robert Leckie (Director, Gasworks & Curator, Gasworks, Gallery, Studios and International Residency Programme, London), Anne Barlow (Director, Art in General, New York), Kari Conte (Director of Programs and Exhibitions, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York), Maria Lind (Director, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm; Artistic director, 11th Gwangju Biennale 2016) and Nicolaus Schafhausen (Director, Kunsthalle Wien), Adela Yawitz (Curator of public events and residencies, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin).
The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative development of artists and curators and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios, two galleries, and a project space, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. ISCP organizes exhibitions, events and offsite projects, which are free and open to all, sustaining a vibrant community of contemporary art practitioners and diverse audiences. Over 1,200 artists and curators from more than 62 countries have undertaken residencies at ISCP.
Acknowledgements: Alessio Antoniolli & Robert Leckey, Anne Barlow, Kari Conte, Maria Lind, Nicolaus Schafhausen, Adela Yawitz
Supporters: State Culture Capital Foundation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council, Embassy of the United States in Riga, The Mill, VKN, BIRZĪ, Absolut, Gardu Muti, Satori, Delfi, Latvijas Radio 3
