Unique Residency Brings Cultures Together
The Bluecoat / Liverpool Hope University – Sadia Salim – until 7 May
Artist Talk: The Bluecoat with Lin Holland and Sadia Salim – Tue 4 May, 6pm
Wolverhampton Art Gallery – Sujeewa Kumari Weerasinghe – Until May 2010
An exciting union of international artists has produced two fascinating residency programmes of South Asian work, at The Bluecoat, Liverpool and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, as part of the ‘Between Kismet and Karma: South Asian Women Respond to Conflict’ season.
Following a research trip to Karachi, Liverpool-based artist, Lin Holland has created a cross-cultural, site-specific installation in the Vide at The Bluecoat.
The project is part of Global Studio – an exhibition showcasing the work of Liverpool-based artists who hav e forged significant international networks outside of the city.
Wolverhampton Art Gallery is host to an installation by Sri Lanka-based artist Sujeewa Kumari Weerasinghe, which deals with memories, cultural images and artistic styles. She works with paintings, digital photography, video and performance.
The residencies form a cross-cultural and creative dialogue across three international venues (Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan was host to the first of the residencies, with the artist Lin Holland at the helm).
Sadia Salim and Lin Holland will discuss their exchange experiences at The Bluecoat on Tuesday 4 May 6pm.
The residencies are a key element of the Between Kismet and Karma: South Asian Women Artists Respond to Conflict . This pioneering, multi-faceted programme, explores how conflict operates within different sites: Home; Bodies; Cities; Borders/Nation; Artist/Artisan/Activist.
South Asian woman live between and within these multiple site of conflict. Their experience of conflict is intensified by how, since the colonial period, they have been caught between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’.
Artists reflect on conflict, its memories and the potential of art to provide challenging forms of healing, critique and expression.
Between Kismet and Karma: South Asian Women Artists Respond to Conflict includes an exhibition, residency series and symposium programme conceived through a curatorial partnership between Shisha, the international agen cy for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts and the University of Leeds. It is delivered in collaboration with Leeds Art Gallery; the Bluecoat, Liverpool; Gasworks, London; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Cornerhouse, Manchester; Southbank Centre, London and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi. For further information regarding the Between Kismet and Karma programme and participating partner venues please visit www.shisha.net for details.