TransCultural
Exchange: Where Art and the
World Convene.
Marek Bartelik, President, the National Chapter of the International Art Critics Association and Greg Lindquist, Editor, The Brooklyn Rail
Portfolio reviews with Hanneke and Karol Fruehauf
From April 7-10, 2011, TransCultural Exchange hosted its 3rd biennale Conference
on International Opportunities in the Arts: The Interconnected World.
Speakers representing more than thirty-five countries spoke about their residency, networking and exhibition programs for emerging
and established artists, critics and curators. Sample panels included "Researching and Applying for Artist-in-Residence Programs,"
"Funding from a Funder's Perspective," "Art in Public Spaces," "Integrating Art and Social Good" and workshops on grant writing, how
to digitalize your portfolio and copyright issues.
Among the highlights were Sarat Maharaj's insightful talk on the meaning of Trans, Cultural and Exchange, Studio Urbanos' overview
of their work, Reif Larson's exploration of books in a digitalized age and a panel on the role of art criticism today.
Also offered were tours of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and MIT's Art and Architecture Program, a book-making workshop hosted
by Harvard University's Cultural Agents Initiative, a reading program at the Boston Public Library, sessions for musicians at the Boston
Center for the Arts, a gala sponsored by Boston University, a concert of new music featuring Beijing's Timi Emsemble, experimental films
organized by the Goethe Institut and an exhibitors hall.
In addition, speakers and invited guests met with over 200 artists for one-on-one portfolio reviews. During these sessions, artists
presented their work for comments and advice. As a result, six months out from the Conference, more than 75 artists have been invited to
participate in an international program or exhibit.
For more information please use the links on the left.
TransCultural Exchange would like to thank its advisory board, whose time and advice have proved invaluable: Ute Meta Bauer, Mario
Caro, Machiko Harada, Kayoko Iemura, Jean-Baptiste Joly and Johan Pousette.
TransCultural Exchange also offers a special thanks to all the Conference volunteers
and sponsors without whom none of this would be
possible: Massachusetts Cultural Council's Adams Art Program, Acme Studios International Residencies Program, American Airlines, Art
New England, the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, Art Papers, Artistay, ArtSpan, Asian Cultural Council, BerkshireFineArts.com,
Boston College, Boston Cultural Council, Boston University's College of Fine Arts, Canvas Fine Arts, Consulate General of France (Boston)
, Consulate General of Israel to New England, Royal Danish Consulate (NY), Délégation du Québec à Boston, Emmanuel College, the French
Cultural Center (Boston), the Goethe Institut Boston, Hallspace Gallery, I-Park Artists Residency Program, Cankiri Karatekin Universetsi
(Turkey), Koç University (Turkey), Richard Lappin and Julia Rabkin, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Mercantile Bank and
Trust, MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, Northeastern University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, Royal Danish
Consulate General (New York), Studio Art Centers International (SACI), the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Swedish
Embassy in Washington D.C. and the Zamir Chorale for their sponsorship as well as the Alliance of Artists Communities, the Boston
Public Library, Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge, LLP, the Harding House, the Irving House at Harvard, over, under, the Point Way Inn,
the Rookwood Inn, swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst's Hampden and Central
Gallery for their in-kind support.
"I came away from
the conference with scores of new
ideas about what it can look like to be an artist... developing new
ideas, and creating new opportunities for collaboration and exhibition."
"As a former
conference producer, I know what it takes
to create an event of such complexity and magnitude, and I applaud the
excellence with which...[the conference] was conceived, organized, and
executed."
"It was really
amazing conference and I'm surprised how
did you get all these people from all over the world together. Very
IMPRESSIVE!"
"The idea of
bringing these artists and minds from many
corners of the world to offer of themselves and their organizations
ways to share and make this a more enjoyable and livable world was very
impressive and has fostered and encouraged my appetite to keep on
making and sharing my art."
"It was highly
stimulating to be in contact with so many
people from around the US and the world!"
"This is one
attendee that enjoyed all of the sessions
that I could manage to physically attend."
"My experience of
attending the TransCultural Exchange
Conference as an artist and art educator was overwhelmingly positive. I
received valuable information from attending all lectures by various
speakers as well as excellent advice and feedback from each mentoring
section."
"You succeeded in
creating 'the' very international
meeting of residences with this second issue of "international
opportunities for artists!" This is the kind of events I wouldn't like
to miss in the future – not only for the panel discussions,
but
also for the many informal conversations I could have with colleagues,
artists and actors of the international art scene."
