Publications

Curious about the artist-in-residence phenomenon? Want to get to know the different voices of the field?

Together with our partners and other organizations, we collect and promote researches and publications into the AiR and cultural mobility sectors worldwide. Here below are some key documents, publications and articles written by the TransArtists staff over the years.

You will find in the related pages some articles and publications in form of mappings, manuals, guides, interviews, and researches of artist-in-residence opportunities by discipline or by country, as well as basic documentation and researches about cultural mobility in various countries. You can also read articles, reports from conferences and debates about the residency sector.

Key publications

To get started in the discourse around artists' residencies, we would recommend you to have a look at the following publications. All of those were published in a European context but there are many more voices in the field and you can find many other publications under articles & debates or books & researches.

Residencies as learning environments, FARE Arte, 2015

"Residences as learning environments" is the publication about the first edition of the International Meeting of Residences held in Milan on June 29 and 30, 2015 promoted by AIR - artinresidence.it. The document contains all the topics discussed during the event and contributions from speakers - free download via pdf or viewed online on issuu.

Home is Where..., KunstVereineRuhr, 2015

In September 18-19, 2015, the KunstVereineRuhr together with its local partners (Kunstvereine and Künstlerhäuser) organised a symposium in the framework of the larger reflection on their residency programs - organised under the name "Canale Grande". Home is Where... is the end result of the symposium, with contributions from the speakers in both German and English. Contact the KunstVereineRuhr to get a paper copy of the publication.

AiR Array, Art Motile, 2015

AIR Array: Perspectives on Artist in Residence Programmes is a compilation of content developed during the event AIR ARRAY: Meeting of Artist in Residence Programmes and Mobility Workshop for Artists - Read more about this initiative on artmotile.org and download the publication in Spanish or English here.

Policy handbook on artists' residencies, European Commission, 2014

The "Policy Handbook on Artists' Residencies" is the final output of the Open Method of Coordination working group on Artists' Residencies on "EAC on Europa". The OMC working group was co-chaired by Maria Tuerlings, founder of TransArtists, and Yvette Vaughan Jones, executive director of Visiting Arts. This document includes many recommendations for local, regional and national policy makers, and a list of benefit factors for various "actors". Find it here in pdf.

ON-AiR: Reflecting on the mobility of artists in Europe, Trans Artists for ON-AiR, 2012

The 18 European partners of the ON-AiR project aim to take you on a ‘journey’, reflecting on the current state of mobility in which the artists in Europe operate and their art flourishes. It also includes a summary of the results and outcomes of the ON-AiR project (2010-2012) and many additional resources. Download the pdf version for free, or contact us to order a paper version.

RE-tooling RESIDENCIES. A Closer Look at the Mobility of Art Professionals, CCA Ujazdowski Castle for RE-tooling Residencies, 2011

RE-TOOLING RESIDENCIES addresses how both arts communities and art institutions try to create arts residency centers in Eastern Europe and to cooperate with existing centers of this kind. The book can be downloaded for free in pdf on www.re-tooling-residencies.org

Our researches and insights

There is so much going on in the world of artist residencies that is growing and morphing. In order to see what’s there and to understand what’s going on; DutchCulture | TransArtists dived in the big pool of data on artist residencies and translated what we came across related to one specific theme to serve you a collection connecting new and old stories, big and small projects accompanied with interviews and articles related to this theme.

Antenna (2015)

In 2015, we dived into three topics that we saw coming to the foreground - in our online research page "Antenna". Antenna signaled and distributed all you want to know about facts, use, sense, and interesting non-sense of artist-in-residence programmes worldwide. Antenna was a dynamic online magazine, which grew around an event, a visit, a stay, a happening or trend.

The topic addressed were:

In Translation: there are specific residency houses for translators - but all artists in residence have to deal with the topic of translation one way or the other. Discover more in our first edition of Antenna.
Embedded: Why do artists and others want to embed themselves in environments which are other to them? How does it work? What do they aim for? Where does the process of embedding ends? Does it ever (need to) end?
China: How to take part in, and what to expect from Chinese artist-in-residence programs? How to operate as a foreign artist in China? How to establish a collaborative relationship with Chinese art institutions and initiatives?

Air Collections (2008-2014)

The AiR Collections were a thematic collection on artist-in-residence opportunities worldwide (available over the years under different names: AiR Collections, sneak preview, newsletters). These kinds of collections allow for a broad perspective through a specific narrow entrance in this immense world of artist residencies, including useful deadlines, background info and a related side dish in the right column of books and readers.

We went undercover, we were in love, we visited big cities, went back to crafts and learned about your rituals in residence. And much more! Check out the full AiR Collections archive here.

Printed newsletters (2002-2007)

We started with printed newsletters in the early 2000's. Some of the topics we addressed were Nomadism, China, Japan, USA, Public Realm, Latin America, the Netherlands, and insights in our work and website.

Interested to know more ? We can scan some pages of old copies or you can check them out in our office.

All readings

The following pages are structured as follows:

In the news: news articles from general or specialized press highlighting artists and/or residency programs. We try to keep it up to date - but any input from you is very welcome!
Interviews: one-on-one interviews with artists, residency organisers or residency platform managers about their experiences, their views and what they want to share with you. Most of the interviews have been carried out by the TransArtists staff, but we also include interviews from third parties. This page will be online soon.
Articles, debates and conferences: one-off articles, research papers, reports of conferences, symposia, and debates, publications and other sources of knowledge and experience.
Books, researches and theses: in-depth researches, long publications, and bachelor/master/PhD theses focusing on residencies in one way or another. These are stand-alone documents that are not necessarily linked to a specific event.
Policy documents: reports and recommendations published by policy-makers from national, regional or international level. We focus specifically on reports relating directly to the residency phenomenon, but we also include policy papers about artists' mobility and the status of artists.
Cultural mobility: here you will find researches, papers and other articles that have a broader scope than "only" artists' residencies - meaning mobility of artists internationally.