Nine artists have been selected for Syllabus V, a national, collaboratively-produced alternative learning programme, delivered by Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), London; S1 Artspace, Sheffield; and Spike Island, Bristol. For Syllabus V, The NewBridge Project, Newcastle, have joined as a guest partner.
The selected artists for Syllabus V are: Sophie Blagden, Juliet Davis-Dufayard, Yuxin Jiang, Hwa Young Jung, Sarai Kirshner, Jack Lewdjaw, Sarah Maple, Duncan Poulton and Aliaskar Torkaliaskari.
Now in its fifth year, Syllabus V provides a learning programme for artists over a ten month period and is supported using public funding from Arts Council England. Syllabus is developed collaboratively with the participating artists, the partner institutions and the artistic advisors, who this year are Barby Asante and Louise Shelley.
The Syllabus V artists work across a range of practices, from sound, filmmaking, drawing and installation to curating and participatory projects. Their work researches diverse topics such as migration, race and representation, the climate crisis, and the post-digital. The nine selected artists live and work across the UK, including Liverpool, Croydon, Sheffield, Bristol and Crawley.
At the first retreat at Wysing in September 2019, Syllabus V artists will come together to share their work and co-produce the year’s syllabus alongside the partners and artistic advisors. Beginning by presenting work and discussing shared concerns and problems, from the theoretical to the very practical, the group identify a list of aims for the year and a way of working that accommodates everyone. Meeting throughout the year, the cohort will invite guest artists, curators, writers and other practitioners to deliver intensive sessions hosted by each of the partners. Previous contributors have included Larry Achiampong, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Celine Condorelli, Anthea Hamilton, Andy Holden, Evan Ifekoya, Shama Khanna, Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Mark Leckey, Richard Long, Sofia Niazi, Katrina Palmer, Holly Pester, Rory Pilgrim, Morgan Quaintance, Tai Shani, Rosalie Schweiker, Cally Spooner, Keith Wilson, DM Withers, Rehana Zaman and Andrea Luka Zimmermann.
The full list of alumni and sessions from previous years of The Syllabus are available at http://www.wysingartscentre.org/archive/retreats
The Syllabus programme has to date resulted in many collaborations and opportunities, including: Group exhibitions at Yinka Shonibare’s Guest Projects space in London; contributions to group exhibitions All His Ghosts Must Do My Bidding and more of an avalanche at Wysing Arts Centre; a residency at Iniva and the Stuart Hall Foundation; and solo exhibitions at Eastside Projects and Spike Island.
Three artists from the cohort have been selected for a bursary to support their participation in the programme. The consortium of Syllabus partners would like to thank Crystallised and Magic of Persia for their support in providing two of these artist bursaries.
Yuxin Jiang, one of the artists selected for this year’s programme, commented:
“I’m really glad to be able to take part Syllabus at the right time for my practice as I’m seeking to break the media boundaries and consolidate the very disparate projects I’ve done in the past few years. I look forward to working with the other artists in the programme to build a journey together that is as much about undoing as it is about learning.”
Daniel Russell, Artist Development Coordinator at NewBridge Project said:
“Here at the NewBridge Project we’ve been following the different cohorts of the Syllabus with interest over the years and we were delighted to be asked to be a part of Syllabus V. We’re very much looking forward to working with the artists selected for this iteration, the other partner organisations and the lead artists to concoct a fun, useful and intellectually stimulating weekend in the North East”.
Louise Shelley, Artistic Advisor said:
“I am very excited to be a part of Syllabus V, to work with the wonderful artist Barby Asante and five incredibly dynamic arts organisations to collectively devise a series of workshops that will address the urgencies of what it means to be a practising artist in the UK right now.”
Laura Rothwell, Founder and Managing Director, Crystallised:
“We’re super happy that we’ve been able to work with Wysing Arts to provide a bursary that fully funds a female artist through the Syllabus V programme. It’s essential that we are making space for, and opportunities accessible to women in to make work, develop their practice and take creative risks. I’m looking forward to seeing the work that comes from the programme.”
Image: Yuxin Jiang, A kitchen of a clear identity and a bag of rice of unclear identity, 2017 Archival pigment print, 110 x 137.5 cm