We would like to thank everybody who expressed an interest in Accented Residency British Council’s Creative Collaborations. Due to the overwhelming number of applications the selection committee's deliberations were extended to two full working days – May 29 and 30.
The selection committee comprising Christine Tohme (Director, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut), William Wells (Director, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo), Alexandru Bougneru (Residency Coordinator, Vector Association, Iasi), Eva Langret (Residency Coordinator, Delfina Foundation, London), Marie-Anne McQuay (Curator, Spike Island, Bristol), Gülsün Karamustafa (Artist, Turkey), Vasif Kortun (Director, Platform Garanti CAC, Istanbul) and Oyku Ozsoy (Residency Coordinator, Platform Garanti CAC) looked at over 200 applications and created a shortlist of 72 artists.
The final selection of nine applicants was made on the basis of the quality of work, how these individuals would benefit from a residency in one of the partner institutions' cities, and whether their practice was considered open to development and critical engagement during the residency period.
The high number of applications for Accented is indicative of how crucial it is at this moment in time to initiate and sustain a residency program in the region. The jury had a difficult time coming to a final selection of only nine successful applicants as the quality of the portfolios was extremely impressive. In December 2009 an open call will be announced on Platform's blog for the residencies taking place in 2010. And, given the immense interest in this program we plan to raise further funding in order to offer additional residency opportunities for artists/curators/writers and continue our collaborations in the coming years.
The individuals selected for Accented 2009 are:
Ashkal Alwan
Ashkan Sepahvand, Iran
Burak Delier, Turkey
Delfina Foundation
Ala Younis, Jordan.
Platform Garanti
Maha Maamoun, Egypt
Vangelis Vlahos, Greece
Spike Island
Gordana Nikolic, Serbia
Townhouse Gallery
Sislej Xhafa, Kosova
Rosalind Nashashibi, UK
Vector Association
Lina Mounzer, Lebanon.
