November 2008

Laundry Open Lab

Venue: Custard factory gallery, Gibb Square, Digbeth, Birmingham, B9 4AA

Download the promo leaflet (140k)

The Open Lab will profile Laundry projects and partnerships, both current and propositional. Open Lab events include:

Portable - G54@Custard Factory
Galleri 54 is a not-for-profit, artist-run gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was founded in 1954 and since then, several generations of Swedish artists have been actively involved in running it. Portable presents artworks by nine individual artists who are actively working with the gallery and is a taster of what is happening in the Gothenburg arts scene. Laundry undertook an exchange with Galleri 54 last year.

Participating artists: Ann-Sofi Roxhage, Anita Paakonen Ahl, Paula Wallmark Nilsson, Helena Roos, Sara Lännerström, Stina Pettersson, Jonathan Jarl, Theo Ågren, Björn Hellström. The exhibition is supported by the Embassy of Sweden.

Opening Thursday November 6th @ 7.30 pm
Gallery space open: Friday November 7th, 2 pm - 8 pm
Saturday & Sunday November 8th - 9th, 12 noon - 5 pm

Laboratories of cross-cultural practices:
Start Talking - work in progress
This project is structured around three creative laboratories - in Birmingham and the Black Country, in Poland with the Borderland Foundation and in Bulgaria with the New Culture Foundation. Each laboratory is working with groups specific to their area and context, using a range of artistic media to explore the concept and reality of intercultural dialogue in their locality - where the issues are matters of memory, destruction of cultural heritage or environment, social and ethnic conflict, immigration and community building.

Brendan Jackson and Beverley Harvey are our lead artists on the project. As part of a training and mentoring programme, with support from Arts Council West Midlands, four local artists have been awarded bursaries to participate in elements of the project and the international exchanges: Jo Loki, Naz Koser, Simon Walker and Simret Cheema-Innis. During the weekend, Raycho Stanev from Bulgaria will also be presenting a sound piece.

Gallery space open:
Saturday November 8th 12 noon - 5 pm
Sunday November 9th 12 noon - 5 pm
OPEN LAB PRESENTATIONS

Saturday November 8th @ 5.30 pm
Interactive Installations: Gary Stewart

Born in Birmingham, Gary has been Head of Multimedia at Iniva (the Institute of International Visual Arts) in London since 1995, where he curates and implements Iniva’s digital programme – encompassing installations, exhibitions, public and online projects. His recent collaborations include Bitter thickest Blood with Trevor Mathison and Obinna Nwosu, Dubstep Chronicles part of the Massive Attack meltdown at the South Bank Centre, A Story Told with film maker Alia Syed, and Dread Sounds, with Duende and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Gary will be sharing thoughts on building immersive environments in which stories can happen that are determined by peoples agency and intervention.
www.iniva.org

Sunday November 9th @ 5 pm
Art is my Business: Ania Bas

Ania is a collaborative artist, curator and developer of art projects. Her work explores areas of communication, instability and repetitiveness of everyday life, sustainability and community. Ania enjoys blurring the edges of what art is and can be, and who produces it. She often works in a business environment and has completed two large projects in this field - with Vestas Blades on the Isle of Wight and with Labein Tecnalia in Bilbao, Basque Country. She is going to talk about ways to get into this business. www.aniabas.com

Sunday November 9th @ 6 pm
Off the map - art in Nodar, Beirut, Alexandria: Alicja Rogalska

Alicja works with a variety of media including photography, installation, performance, text and video. Her projects are usually site-specific and process-based. She enjoys working in everyday situations and non-traditional contexts. Her practice often involves collaboration with other people, not necessarily artists, examining issues of identity of people and places, their perception and representation. She has a growing interest in the concept of middle-of-nowhereness and finds the idea of making art in Bishkek or Upernavik more exciting than New York or Berlin. With recent residencies in Portugal, Lebanon and Egypt, in her presentation she will reflect on the kinds of work undertaken in these diverse contexts. www.alicjarogalska.co.uk

Sunday November 9th @ 7 pm
Crossing Borders: Brendan Jackson

Drawing on his experience as an artist and developer of community arts programmes both locally and internationally, Brendan will talk about the organic development of creative collaborations; from the Balkans to Baku, a whistle-stop tour of intercultural dialogue, chance meetings, the Wonders of Warsaw and Kaunas, and maybe a few other places in-between. Some of his creative journeys can be found online at www.brendanjackson.co.uk or www.thevodkaproject.net