The AiR as a commons, not a service

Image (c) Aaron Lapeirre

In August 2021 we, at Timelab decided to formally redesign the residency format we started many years ago. The decision was based on the growing conviction that a residency should not only be a service, but a profound and real reciprocal exchange between the artist and the hosting organization, which can hold the possibility of learning new insights for both. This conviction emerged from the many encounters, feedback, and reflection sessions we had with artists over the last 15 years. Every year since 2017, a group of affiliated artists come together at Timelab to reflect on how to develop a residency as a commons. We delve into processes of reflecting on and designing the contract, value, curation, livelihood, and documenting. Together, we decided to radically shift towards a residency based on PRESENCE. A presence-residency is specific in a sense that there is no determined outcome taking the form of a presentation or production towards the end. So what is it then? An experience aiming at the personal development and ‘off’ time of the resident, to re-find grounding, reflect on work and life, and to explore new ways of living and working from the safe environment of the residency. How an AiR can become a commons instead of a service.

During the evening of October 21, we will have a conversation with Alaa Abu Asad, the second resident in this program, who arrived at Timelab in August 2022. We will talk about how this type of residency fills a gap in the field of Artists in Residencies (AiR). How the relationship between the artist and institution, including the people in it, develops. How the presence-residency is more organic and continuous to the artists’ practice. But also how difficult it is to define the contribution and value of the presence in terms of contracts and agreements, as  we are used to taking a residency as a given service. How to document the process. How to leave a trace, or create a memory that goes from one artist to the following one. How to connect with the environment. How to create common resources for generations of artists in residency.

We invite artists, cultural workers, curators, programmers and representatives of hosting institutions and providers of residency in the field of arts and beyond to join us in this conversation on the process of commoning an arts practice. 

If you feel like joining but can not make it physically, we will set up a hybrid space for you.