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NEWS The latest from the UK and international arts and cultural sectors

July 2007

Artquest

Artquest is a London-based information and advice service for visual artists and craftspeople. It is a regularly funded organisation of Arts Council England, set up in partnership with University of the Arts London, and has a remit to professionally assist creative practitioners in all stages of their careers.

There are 4 main strands to the Artquest programme:

A London-oriented website containing over 700 pages of information and advice useful to artists in all stages of their careers, freely accessible to all;

A free telephone and email helpline for London-based practitioners;
An ongoing series of free one to one advice sessions;
Numerous live activities and events, from the Annual Artquest Jumble Sale to courses, international conferences, training and seminars

Artquest was founded in 2001, and over the past 5 years has responded to the needs of London-based visual artists and craftspeople, providing advice and information as well as working to proactively develop the sector. During this time, London's visual arts practitioners have begun increasingly to work overseas, with international opportunities now as critical to artists' careers as local ones.

In response to this development in visual art practice, and to Arts Council England's recently published International Policy, Artquest is seeking ways in which to promote and develop international opportunities for visual artists and craftspeople based in London.

Artroute

Artroute is an international version of the main Artquest website being individually researched for different countries around the world. The initial focus is on Europe given the proximity to and links with the London art scene. Bespoke and well-researched information and advice on the EU art scenes are updated in partnership with overseas consultants covering everything someone wanting to work in the arts would need to know.

The first stage of Artroute, a pilot project with France, was developed through a pilot phase in partnership with British Council (France) and artconnexion, an artist-run gallery in Lille. Artroute is continuing development via a new partnership with Centre National des Arts Plastiques in France who are funding a reciprocal information service for French artists considering working and living in the UK, to be published online in both French and English.

Coming soon... Artelier

Artelier will be a user-driven, international temporary studio exchange website provided by Artquest to compliment it's existing international activities.

Responding to a lack of opportunities for visual artists and craftspeople to engage in international exchange, dialogue and networking, Artelier will be available to practitioners at all stages of their careers.

Visitors to the Artelier site will create free online profiles providing details, plans and photographs of the accommodation and studio space which they wish to swap, where they would like to visit and for how long. Other users with profiles can then search for artists to swap with via the various search criteria. Users can then message each other via the site, maintaining confidentiality and choosing for themselves when to swap contact details and talk directly. Any agreements will be between the artists only.
Coupled with the existing Artquest service, Artelier and an expanded Artroute website will provide a great stimulus and support for the free movement of Europe's creative practitioners.

www.artquest.org.uk/artroute

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