CVAN EM Newsletter 11th November - 8th December 2019
Hello!
In the weeks since our last newsletter the Arts Council of Wales has stated that it won’t fund projects that don’t budget minimum pay rates for artists, hundreds of thousands of pounds will have been exchanged for works of contemporary fine art and craft in a plethora of art fairs in London, and curators in the US have formed a coalition to organise events and exhibitions of art by women at 50 museums to coincide with the presidential election.
Closer to home, in October we were delighted to welcome so many people to Phoenix in Leicester for the launch of the It Takes A Region To Raise An Artist research with CAMEo. We were taken through the research method and headlines by AHRC funded Creative Economy Engagement Fellow Dr Antoinette Burchill and given responses to the findings within the context of the Midlands creative economy by CAMEo's Professor Mark Banks and the implications for CVAN EM's plans for future activity.
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Up next was a set of inspiring contributions about how they work with artists from four regionally-based programmer / producers. They also engaged in a lively panel discussion with Antoinette about regional support for artists and what actions might make the most difference to the region's visual arts sector going forward.
Delegates were given copies of an executive summary of the research, and at the close of the event, the full report was made live online. It can be found now on our website. in the visual arts community. If you'd like to find out more about the research, get in touch.
Following the event we moved on to nearby Two Queens where, over a spread of delicious nibbles, we were treated to a sneak preview of Pilgarlic's Gone A-Sauling the new exhibition by Berlin-based artist Jake Kent, who talked to attendees about his practice and the inspiration for the exhibition.
Many thanks to everyone who came to either, or both, of these events!
Dylan Fox's work unpacks the various barriers the transgender community faces, demonstrating an emphasis on social interaction, combined with the visual language most associated with printed matter and found objects. Read his interview here. Dylan will take over Instagram for us in the next few weeks!
Many thanks to Jas Singh our featured artist for the last few weeks.
CURATING THE EAST MIDLANDS: MATTHEW CHESNEY
Matthew Chesney is Director of BACKLIT in Nottingham, supporting early career and emerging artists and presenting a programme of national and international artists. Read his interview here. Matt will take over Instagram for us in the next few weeks!
Many thanks to Andrew Williamsour featured producer for the last few weeks.
Artists and creatives based in and around Nottingham are invited to propose activations as part of Nottingham Light Night 2020.
Nottingham Light Night 2020 will be the twelfth edition of this highly successful event, which brings high quality accessible work to Nottingham City Centre, attracting communities into the City Centre across a range of demographic backgrounds. Innovative, interactive and engaging installations, performances and activities will happen across the city, based around the theme of ‘Life on Earth’.
The 2020 event will take place across two nights and one day (extended beyond the previous 1 night edition) on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th February. The event is expected to attract 50,000 people, mainly local families, with a media reach of over 600,000.
Artists and creatives invited to propose interventions in the City Centre. Applications can be made for small commissions between £500 and £3500, expected to be an average of £1500 with a minimum of three commissions made.
Indoors and outdoors proposals welcome. The format of the work is flexible from installation to performance.
Featured Event: Imran Qureshi 30 Nov 2019 - 9 Feb 2020
The centrepiece of the show references those ‘..who have been buried without their lives honoured or the circumstances of their deaths investigated’. Qureshi’s new exhibition in QUAD will include a site-specific installation, recent works on canvas, the UK premier of new video works and offer an insight into the world of contemporary miniature painting – the medium he is most celebrated for.
Join us for the Launch Event of this extraordinary exhibition
Imran Qureshi is arguably one of the most renowned artists to emerge from Pakistan in the last twenty years. At the core of Qureshi’s practice is Contemporary miniature painting, rooted in the tradition of 16th Century Mughal art and culture. Contemporary miniature painting has been taught at the National College of Art (NCA) in Lahore since the early 1900s. Imran Qureshi also has taught at the NCA since graduation and has always considered teaching an integral part of his practice. He set up the first miniature painting ‘Maktab’ (meaning school in Arabic) as part of the Lahore Biennial in 2018.
The forthcoming exhibition in QUAD will also showcase work by six young contemporary miniature painters currently studying under Quershi at the NCA; Aliya Kazim, Altamash, Hamida, Hamna Khalid, Hira Asim, and Natalia Ashraf.
Abi Spinks, former Curator at Nottingham Contemporary, has recently been appointed to the role of Collections Curator at Nottingham City Museums. Abi has worked in the city for over 15 years and supported a considerable number of artists from the city, nationally and internationally. Looks as though we'll need to interview her again for Curating the East Midlands! Congratulations Abi!
East Midlands artists in Bloomberg New Contemporaries
This year's Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibitors, include Nottingham Trent Alumni Katharina Fitz, Renie Masters and Emily Stollery. Katharina is currently Axisweb's Artist of the Month, Emily recently received a Sculpture Production Award from Pangaea Sculptors' Centre, and Renie was selected to take part in the 2019 Venice Fellowships Programme. Exciting times for all three! More
Arts Council England has announced an investment of over £1million for visual arts in Nottingham through its Small Capital Grants. Grants intended to support organisations long-term resilience, environmental sustainability & helping to transform how they work have been awarded to Primary, Broadway and Nottingham Castle. Congratulations to all the recipients. More
CVAN supports creative career development
CVAN has collaborated on the development of Discover! Creative Careers, a programme of activities and resources providing young people with information about careers in the creative industries and the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in those careers. Specifically, CVAN has consulted
on training material and written a series of job profiles. More
We regularly post exhibition openings, opportunities and events on social media - follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for regular updates!
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