To re-think our position in the field we asked Liza Voetman to do a four month research into our programme. In her research, ‘hospitality’ came to the core as a central issue, based on the relationship between the invited guest artist, their autonomy and the guest- and host seen from the perspective of the public, organization and artist themselves. Parallel to this research, two pairs of artists worked in the physical space of the guest studio, in order to research and experience the theme both in a theoretical and practical way. The main question that came up regarding hospitality can be summarized as such: as a host, do you hand over the keys and give the artist the ultimate freedom? Is that a sign of trust that the artist will do whatever is necessary? Or would just handing over the keys be almost the opposite, a gesture of non-commitment from the side of the host? Of not taking care of the artist and just leaving them to their own devices? So first of all what does hospitality mean for a small artist-in-residence as ours?
From the Mini-Symposium at Theater de Nieuwe Vorst. Information about this event can be found here.
