Rowan Arts' funding campaign closed on 13th July, having achieved their target and raised £610 from 13 donations.
Islington Exhibits are currently at the very exciting stage of getting to know the chosen artists for this year’s Artist-in-Residence program. Ilinca Calugareanu, Thomas Mitchell and Nela Milic are only just starting to realise their projects, spend time with their host organisations and form relationships with staff and users.
Islington Exhibits is the annual exhibitions initiative that encourages the display of artwork in unexpected venues across the London borough of Islington from Friday 15 – Sunday 24 July 2011. Alongside the exhibitions, the Artist in Residence program offers the opportunity for artists to establish an in-depth dialogue with the host organisation.
The funds we raise will go straight to the chosen artists to allow them the scope to realise larger scale projects and have a direct impact on the surrounding community through interactive works, talks, tours and workshops.
· Ilinca will be making a documentary on the regular customers at the Floirin, a traditional Irish pub that has recently been the venue for many Rowan Arts events and is now managed by a British Asian family. Ilinca wants to understand the unique life of the Floirin, its history and the community that has formed around it through interviews, ethnographic research, archive footage and photographs of the pub and area.
· Nela has already spent a few weeks at the Old Fire Station where The Holloway Neighbourhood Group is based, getting to know staff and users to create a virtual map from the physical connections between the numerous groups that use the space. She often collaborates with participants to create an artist hub at the centre. http://www.hng.org.uk/
· Thomas has been inspired by the notorious Islington artists Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell who stole and altered library books only to return them in their altered state. He has been holding workshops at Rowan Arts events, encouraging people to create humourous and satirical collages with book covers. These will then be used to create a specially constructed permanent library at the Old Fire Station.http://www.therowanartsproject.com/
Last year, the residency program was very successful with artists forming long-term relationships with the staff and users of the host organisations. There was a broad range of results including a free newspaper, pencil drawings, a series of workshops, public tours, talks, a sound piece and an interactive installation on Highgate Hill.
About Islington Exhibits
Islington Exhibits is an initiative to unlock hidden venues in Islington to give artists and craft persons a space to display their work. It is produced by Rowan Arts with Cubitt Education and St. Luke's Centre and supported by Islington Council. Islington Exhibits is based on a pilot project Archway Open House that ran in the summer of 2009. Events included exhibitions in local shops, restaurants, bars and cafes, as well as guided tours, talks by artists and much more.
www.islingtonexhibits.com
About the charity
Rowan Arts is a not-for-profit organisation based in North London. It works with local organisations and groups to bring the arts into everyday life through a variety of events, activities and projects. It produces regular larger scale events, including Holloway Arts Festival and Islington Exhibits that give the wider community a chance to come together, both as performers and as audience.
www.therowanartsproject.com
Please join us on Twitter @IslngtnExhibits for updates on the Islington Exhibits residencies and further opportunities.
