Sustainability of international female artist led exchange part 4
· Development and sustainability of relationships. Having less of a focus on exchange of objects and more of a focus on the exchange of conversation and ideas has provided a more stable basis to produce individual works and collaborative output. Amanda Oliphant comments:
“A loose conversation, an email or tweet that links you to a stranger but where you find there are common grounds to explore. This is what I am taking further.”
The formation of open, two way relationships between us and the Turkish Artists and a deeper understanding of how individuals within POST work has helped us to be more resilient when faced with challenges. Contact with artists Gülçin Aksoy, Nancy Atakan and POST artists has been open and flowing, whilst communication with the group Atılkunst has been less direct and beneficial, with some of the artists in POST having never met the Atılkunst artists. This has felt like a lost opportunity, but the flexible form of the project has meant that this more limited communication has not provided a stress-point. The relationships developed between POST, Nancy Atakan & Gülçin Aksoy have been quality ones, that have continued in the longer period between newspaper publications without being forced and will hopefully lead to longer-term outcomes as individual and collective practices develop in future.
By developing our understanding of each other through a more gentle process of making newspapers and sharing conversations, we have been able to work better together as we come to understand our different approaches to our individual practices.
As our relationships (both within POST and with our partners) have developed, so has an adaptive flexible process for the artists involved. All of the artists involved felt as though they belonged to the project, being able to guide it’s direction, but felt that there was permission from the rest of the group to invest their efforts elsewhere when life events intervened. Cecilia Kinnear notes:
“Personally to belong to a project but then have the permission and understanding to step back when needed , yet remain included was a significant reward for me. Having witnessed from the side-lines many art or other projects fall due to rigidity and relationship breakdowns – has left made me proud and honoured to be a part of TRADING STATION.”
· Legacy work. Given the less object and exhibition focus of the project, artistic outcomes have been works that can be used in a different way in the future. Many of the works produced are in the form of video works, limited editions or printed material (posters & newspapers). These works have adapted to the ethos of the exchange, and offer each of the artists an opportunity to sustain that work in new locations into the future.
This has been considered in regards to the four newspaper publications, which are being collated into a limited edition collection to be distributed in Liverpool and beyond during Liverpool Art month. This will see TRADING STATION presented within a critical framework offering an overview of the project that can be shared with our professional contacts.
