BackWednesdays Open Platform Residency (WOP)
Submitted by Green Papaya Art Projects
1 Aims/Objective
1.1 Wednesdays Open Platform Residency (WOP) aims to put-in-place the necessary mechanisms to develop a curatorial approach and strategy emerging from the sensibilities and context of new artistic explorations by young emerging multi/cross-media artists. The residency intends to conduct WOP as a creative laboratory with a diverse interest in anthropological, social, political, and technological contexts, and probe how these areas of diverse interests impact on contemporary art practice.
1.2 The WOP residency aims to provide the resident artist/curator a unique environment for artistic engagement between him/her and those artists involved in the weekly WOP programs. Such environment is seen as a fertile ground for the resident artist/curator to create his/her work within the context of that engagement.
1.3. The WOP residency aims to ensure a year-long uninterrupted programming with 6 resident artists/curators taking charge of curatorial and program implementation for 12 months, with each one covering 8 weeks of residency. The residency also hopes to put in-place a curatorial and management support mechanism involving members of its community thereby putting into practice the principle of community ownership and responsibility over the idea of an independent, alternative and “open platform.”
2 Brief description of project
Wednesdays Open Platform Residency (WOP) is an experimental and creative laboratory for artists who wish to show/perform their new works/works-in-progress for a one-night-only critical exchange via screenings, readings, conversations, performances and exhibitions. WOP was launched in September 19, 2007 as Wednesdays I’m-N-love Open Platform providing opportunities for artists to test-run works in a close-knit art community/audience where positive and productive critiquing and appreciation abound as a mechanism for aesthetic and pedagogic evaluation of artistic processes. Now running on its 17th Wednesday, WOP has evolved into a weekly event, always anticipated with unexpected creative turns and twists, and providing a new platform for a broader
cross-disciplinary activities in varying artistic stages – from script readings (of noted and long running Philippine play Hiblang Abo) to Indian modern dance performance/lecture (by Astad Deboo).
While WOP was conceived generally as a loose, informal and more street-drawn type of programming, the idea of the Wednesdays Open Platform Residency arouse from the exigencies of making WOP a more structured and sustainable program.
3 Methodology / Implementation of project
Wednesdays Open Platform Residency is an open-call for 6 local young artists/curators to have a residency at Green Papaya for a period of 2 months (or 8 Wednesdays) each. During the residency, each selected resident artist/curator will work as a member of the curatorial team, and will organize and co-curate 8 succeeding WOP programs. Aside from co-curating, the resident artist/curator will assist in documenting/archiving the events.
While in residency, the resident artist/curator shall also be encouraged to produce his/her work (literary writing, film/video, music/sound, performance and/or visual arts) referenced on the creative environment and experience provided and brought by the Wednesdays happenings. His/her work may be multi-disciplinary and collaborative. All the creative outputs of the 6 artists/curators-in-residents shall be presented in an exhibition/performance/publication after the program has been completed for one year as part of Green Papaya’s calendar for 2009.
4 Time frame of project
2008
Open Call for applicants March 5 - April 2
Evaluation/selection process April 3 - 26
Announcement of successful applicants April 30 (Wednesday)
Start of residency/First resident artist/curator May 1 - June 30
Second resident artist/curator July 1- August 23
Third resident artist/curator August 25 - October 18
Fourth resident artist/curator October 20 - December 13
2009
Fifth resident artist/curator January 5 - February 28
Sixth resident artist/curator March 2 - April 25
Exhibition/publication May 27 - June 24
Program evaluation/documentation July 6 - 31
5 Projected output of project
Out-puts of the residency program shall be:
5.1. A cohesive 8 successive Wednesdays Open Platform program conceived, formulated, and co-curated by each resident artist/curator which may cover visual arts exhibitions, video screenings, live performances, live sound recordings, artists conversations/interviews, poetry/script readings, as well as other forms of interventions and dialogues.
5.2. Resident artists/curators may have independent outputs as in straight documentation (video, stills and literature), video/film, live recordings, visual arts, performance, interventions, etc.
5.3. All individual out-puts of the 6 resident artists/curators shall be posted in the internet via webpage, multiply and blogspot as the program progresses. At the end of the program, all collated out-puts and materials shall be exhibited and published as a curatorial case-study and reference.
6 Who is your target audience for your project?
6.0. Generally young artists working in new media (video and sound), performance, contemporary dance, literature, technical theater, music, graphics design, fashion and visual arts.
Also:
6.1. Students of fine arts, music, dance and social sciences from nearby universities
6.2. Cultural/social workers and managers of non-government organizations based in the village
6.3. A segment of the general public which is supportive of local contemporary arts practice
7 How do you propose to disseminate information about the project to your target audience?
Green Papaya intends to tap both its formal and informal channels to disseminate information and progress updates on the project. As part of its formal public information program, Green Papaya publishes regular news bulletin sent to all members of its artistic community, universities within the area, cultural sections of foreign embassies in the Philippines, the local press, cultural institutions and network in the Asia-Pacific region via the internet. As a parallel public communication’s effort, Green Papaya occasionally publishes a handy printed flyer/program sent to selected institutions and distributed in strategic venues in Metro Manila. Green Papaya will also endeavor a full documentation of the project, either in printed or electronic form, to be disseminated to all interested parties and sectors at the completion of the project. Wednesdays Open Platform currently maintains a blogpsot at http://papayapost.blogspot.com
Informally, Norberto Roldan and Donna Miranda, both co-founders of Green Papaya disseminates information about its programs by attending exhibition openings, artists’ talks, performances, symposia and the like whenever possible, as part of its community building and networking initiatives.
8 How do you think your project will create impact on the cultures that you want to engage with? How will it develop the field of your art form?
Green Papaya Art Projects has always been in the forefront exploring alternative ways and approaches to the production, curation and representation of contemporary art in various disciplines. It has consistently strengthened this position by providing a unique platform and multidisciplinary environment to young Filipino contemporary artists. One of the most important core values Green Papaya would like to impart to members of its artistic community is the importance of intellectual exchange, sharing of information, critical dialogue, and creative and practical collaboration in the production of contemporary art. The Wednesdays Open Platform residency program embodies this philosophy, it fleshes out the dynamics needed for productive dialogue and creative conspiracies among artists and peers, and provides the right excuse for anarchy in the name of intelligent and discursive everyday art.
Green Papaya’s immediate community is composed mainly of artists working outside the mainstream arts and culture agenda established by a Post-Marcos socio-politico-cultural condition. More than 20 years after the People Power revolution of 1986, the arts and culture development in the Philippines continues to struggle against the backdrop of unstable economy and corruption in highest level of government. Such that government artistic and cultural institutions have also receded to become mere vehicles of power by techno-bureaucrats who either have no clear arts and culture policy or are entirely clueless of the current contemporary art practice in the country.
Hovering under this bleak condition, Filipino artists have always sought to establish parallel independent centers and initiatives responsive to their practice. Seeking to present themselves and their work in their own terms. The emergence of artist-run spaces, along with more than 10 years of internet, Google search and Hotmail have become important factors in keeping the alternative art economy alive, dynamic and relevant. Thus, the socio-political and cultural ferment of the times proved to be conducive for Green Papaya to establish itself as an important initiative for contemporary art practice in Metro Manila. Providing a platform and support mechanism to young, emerging and mid-career contemporary artists otherwise unavailable, if not inconsistently present in the country. It has sustained, thus far, a creative and critical environment for experimentation, research, and representation of art, despite of, or perhaps even so because of the dismal state of art infrastructure in the country. More importantly, it sets a precedent that artists can mobilize and organize themselves to take active role in cultural production.
More than the physical space, it’s the political dimension behind the concept of an “open platform” that brings a whole new approach to community building. In effect, strengthening our connection with the very community we wish to serve. We have strived to uphold the artists’ positions and sentiments by providing the most conducive conditions for both production and presentation of their works. Green Papaya’s activities have been well attended by the artistic community. It has become a center for communing where artists take part in the dynamics of its function. During the last three years, Green Papaya has become a meeting place between local artists and international curators, researchers, artists and scholars made possible through consistent networking activities and communication.
The Wednesdays Open Platform residency program promises to be a potent link between the platform and the community of artists it serves, between the mainstream art practice and the independent surge of experimentations and interventions in the periphery, and between the traditional institutions and parallel initiatives.
The possibilities the WOP residency offers are vast in an environment and condition wanting of an unbridled yet critically framed open platform.
9 Who are your confirmed collaborators for the project? (Please list their names and attach their CVS)
The six artists/curators shall be selected from an open-call.
Curatorial management and collaboration shall be provided by Donna Miranda
Artistic direction and collaboration shall be provided by Norberto Roldan