Representation, Accountability and Solidarity in Institutions and the Artists they Serve
M. Carmen Lane, Laila Hida, Francesca Masoero, Emily Jacir, Emily Pethick, moderated by Stephanye WattsRethinking Residencies Symposium
December 9, 2021, 22:30
As residency programs grapple with complex geopolitical and affective realities, how do the values of their residents and the institutions’ locations inform their practices? Residency programs are impacted by the personal, social, and global circumstances of the artists they serve. Determining which of these issues deserve or demand an organizational response and how to transform topics that could be divisive into conditions for support is the responsibility of an effective organization. How do the roles of host and guest play into these dynamics most productively? This panel also addressed questions such as: What lessons can organizations draw from social and political movements to better support artists? How do institutions create the most conducive environments for artists to explore complex ideas and practices?
Rethinking Residencies Symposium invited artists, curators, scholars, and residency organizations worldwide to come together to address residency programs as critical sites of production within the field of visual arts. The symposium considered existing scholarship and cultivate new thinking about the history, institutional structures, and conditions of visual art residencies. Founded in 2014, Rethinking Residencies is the first network of New York-based artist and curator residency programs, and the symposium was its most extensive event to date. The 16 member institutions of Rethinking Residencies generate knowledge and resources, anchored together in cooperation and collaboration.