SWAP / VAIHTO
event: August 9 – 19, 2008
daily from 12 pm till late

open sessions: August 9 and 15, 2008
from 8 pm till late

Location: Cable Factory, Puristamo, Tallberginkatu 1, Helsinki

Participants:

Barbro Björkfelt, Andrew Bracey, Jonathan Carson, Anne Charnock, Fiona Curran, Sophia Crilly, Samantha Donnelly, Janet Griffiths, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Hannu Häkkinen, Hannu Karjalainen, Mark Kennard, Jaana Kokko, Tim Machin, Rosie Miller, Juhana Moisander, Egle Oddo, Mikko Oravainen, Ima Picó, Jonne Pitkänen, Virva Sointu, Marko Timlin, Tom Watson

Namastic Art Collective is pleased to announce Swap/Vaihto, an international residency, exchange programme in collaboration with Ima Picó, Suite Studios, Salford/Manchester, UK, Bureau Gallery, UK, HIAP and The Cable Factory in Helsinki, Finland.

Swap/Vaihto is an exchange programme between UK and Finland-based artists to explore ideas around collaboration and working methodologies, alongside current issues of cultural identity and migratory art practice. The project provides a unique opportunity for artists to spend time in residence in each country and engage in a period of research and production, culminating in exhibition at Bureau and event in The Cable Factory, Helsinki. The project is based on the idea of Ima Picó, who is a Spanish artist living in Manchester.

The UK and Finland-based artists were in residence at Bureau the 7th-19th of July, collaborating to develop new works and an exhibition, which took/takes place from 19th July to 9th August 2008. The residencies provide artists with an environment that encourages the exchange of ideas and instigates experimentation with new concepts and materials. The predominant focus of the Swap/Vaihto programme is as a means of establishing a mutual exchange of ideas.

The artists will travel to Helsinki on 7th August for the second part of the project; to further develop their collaborative practice and explore the aspects of ´exchange´ they have engaged with. This second part of the project will include a residency, open sessions and events at The Cable Factory, Helsinki. Doors of Puristamo space will be open to audience all the time artists are working, giving the Helsinki audience a unique possibility to observe the whole working process and meet artists at their work A related publication will be launched in Autumn 2008.

SUITE STUDIO GROUP

Suite is a long established artists’ studio located in Salford. The studio comprises a broad range of practices and members meet on a regular basis. Many of the artists in Suite have emerged from the various MA courses in the region and the aim of the studio group is to create the conditions where artists can work in an atmosphere of critical debate around their practices.

NAMASTIC ART COLLECTIVE

Namastic Art Collective is an artistic collective founded in Helsinki in 2006. The collective is based on a wide network of contacts and collaborations between artists and other professionals of art and related fields. They are interested in the different approaches to the combination of electronic music and visual art in a live situation, in other words, the co-operation and interaction between visual arts and music.

Swap/Vaihto is organised by Namastic Art Collective in collaboration with Suite Studio Group, Ima Picó and Bureau Gallery.

Supported by Arts Council England, Arts Council of Finland, British Council, Bureau, The Cable Factory, HIAP, Laitilan Panimo Finland, Genelec, The Finnish Embassy, The Finnish Institute & Salford Council.

For further information & images please contact Namastic Art Collective at virva.sointu@gmail.com or at egodit@gmx.net.