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200 Voices

200 Voices

200 Voices will profile, spread and showcase some of the world’s most exciting artists online throughout 2012. Launching on January 1, submissions will be streamed throughout the year.

In 2012 the eyes of the world are on London and the UK for the world’s biggest sporting event, the London 2012 Olympics. We want to reflect this global occasion back to those people looking into the UK. We want to give artists from all over the world the opportunity to tell the world what it’s like to live and work in their country in the 21st century. To inspire and be inspired. We also want to strengthen the legacy of past Visiting Arts projects and continue developing our relationships with artists we have previously worked with.

We are still accepting submissions of an image, short film, piece of music or text which reflects on your local experience as a practising artist in your country, for example, a photograph of your studio or the view from your studio window.What is it like to be an artist working in your country? How do your local surroundings and context influence your work and your practice? Is there anything you would like to say to other artists across the world about your situation?

Subsequently, on your more detailed online profile, we will be able to upload details of your specific art practice, artistic portfolio and information about any upcoming exhibitions.

If you would like to be one of our 200 Voices please get in touch today by emailing Miriam.metliss@visitingarts.org.uk, also check out our Facebook page for more info and updates- http://www.facebook.com/visiting.arts

Below are highlights of some of the large number of submissions we've received - click on an image to see

 

Image credits - Work from 'Nowhere' series by Susan Keshet, UK artist based in Sussex.

 

Ania Bas

 

Arno Baude

 

Chingiz

 

Duguld Ferguson

 

Fergus Jordan

 

Jael Orea Arenas

 

Hera Buyuktasciyan

 

Karen McLean

 

Morgana Ferrara

 

Paul Valadez

 

Ruchika Wason Singh

 

Sigal Yaar

 

Simohamed Fettaka

Stefano Morelli

Santiago Morilla
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Activity

200 Voices

26.01.12

200 Voices - Artists

Ania Bas

 

Arno Baude

 

Chingiz

 

Duguld Ferguson

 

Fergus Jordan

 

Jael Orea Arenas

 

Hera Buyuktasciyan

 

Karen McLean

 

Morgana Ferrara

 

Paul Valadez

 

Ruchika Wason Singh

 

Sigal Yaar

 

Simohamed Fettaka

Stefano Morelli

Santiago Morilla

 

200 Voices

19.01.12

Santiago Morilla

 

200 Voices

12.01.12

Simohamed Fettaka

 
 

Although just 14km from Europe, Morocco is a long way from Europe’s educational and international cultural development. As an artist, I feel committed to participating in changing this situation.

I’m driven by my own social restlessness, questioning tradition as well as appreciating it. My work explores this: for me, art is the way to express myself while I am enabling others to express themselves.

 

200 Voices

12.01.12

Chingiz

 

WILL I EVER LEAVE SOVIET EPOCH?

DO I LIVE IN PRESENT AZERBAIJAN?

DO I LOVE THE IMPOSED WESTERN CULTURE?
 

200 Voices

12.01.12

Dugald Ferguson

 

I am particularly interested in making work that accessibly questions with humour the inequalities (with a focus on the LGBT and Sportsmen) present in our society...

....in such a way that respects and rejoices in the freedoms we have and are evolving nationally and globally.

200 Voices

12.01.12

Hera Buyuktasciyan

 
'It wasn't meant to end like this' is a kind of reminder for us to think about the possible outcomes of the sudden upheavels, downfalls, and loss within each of our collective global history and how would our present and future be like.

The continuous destruction and total transformation within each an every aspect of life also causes an inability to imagine the present moment.

Today and everyday we witness the radical loss of our world and finally face the term 'worldlessness'.

200 Voices

12.01.12

Fergus Jordan

 

Darkness and light physically fragment the landscape in a manner that corresponds closely to the political connotations of division

a dialect that sits uncomfortably in this highly charged sectarian landscape.

200 Voices

12.01.12

David Davies

 

I am looking for a modern beauty that doesn't crop out 'undesirable' elements, but remains true to the contemporary landscape, and hopefully creates a new way of looking.

200 Voices

12.01.12

Stefano Morelli

 
 

The culture of the place you came from is always reflected in your work. However, this must not be a point of 'arrival' but one of 'departure'.

Travelling around the world opens your mind. What you see will influence your project. 

 

 

200 Voices

12.01.12

Paul Valadez

 

My surroundings influence my work greatly. I live on the Texas-Mexico Border and there are daily reminders of ongoing drug and immigration violence. Not a single day goes by without a drug or gun shipment, large or small is seized in my locality. 

200 Voices

12.01.12

Morgana Ferrara

 

“The cemetery of the forgotten boats”, is a plot on the island of Lampedusa where seized migrants’ boats are kept after they have made the treacherous journey from Africa to Europe - often boats and dead bodies are washed ashore serving as a constant reminder to the dangers posed to all who risk making the journey.

200 Voices

12.01.12

Sigal Yaar

The images show pieces of wood, recycled materials and found objects, which inspire my imagination.

In many ways, I feel that for me the world is a 'raw material'.

200 Voices

11.01.12

Karen Mclean

 

My local surroundings and context influence my work and practice in many ways. My interests lie in the connected history that I share with Britain, having grown up in the Caribbean and now residing in the UK.

 

I am keenly interested in the Caribbean community that came here during the Windrush period and their continued development and status as a minority community. My interests have allowed me to research as far back as slavery on the plantations and to question the continued effects of colonialism.

 

200 Voices

11.01.12

Fernando Arias

 

I explore ideas of conflict, oppression, sexuality, religion and a range of social concerns have driven my work as a visual artist.

The video I present here is an extract of a large installation/performance I created for the Prince Claus Awards ceremony 2011.

It is inspired by Chocó's nature and celebrates water as a source of life and alerts us to its increasing cause of conflicts around the world.

200 Voices

11.01.12

Cai and JJ

 

This image is a perfect poster for the London Olympics 2012. It represents our artistic journey from Beijing to London. We believe art is free, and creativity has no boundaries.

 

The image here is of our performance Two Artists Run Naked Across Westminster Bridge with a panda bear in 2000.

200 Voices

06.01.12

Ruchika Wason Singh

My works deal with the human habitat and existence and its relation with the environment.

As a practicing artist living and working in the urban setting of Delhi, my work has been impacted by the daily life and the processes of consumption therein.

200 Voices

05.01.12

Anna Sherbany

In “Empty Gestures” the ritual becomes a visual marker of what remains common to all people.

The singularity of the gesture is poetic as well as powerful. The increasing value of water is measured by its absence. 

The movement of the hands becomes a metaphor for human resilience.

200 Voices

30.12.11

Jael Orea Arenas

 

‘In all honesty, I don’t need much to make my work. I spend most of my time in the street, being surprised by almost everything.

I edit my photos using a very simple process, and when I need to visualize them more, I print them. I spend little time in my house, mostly at night. I like to read, listen to music, and draw.

I basically need a table, paper (to draw or write on), sunlight or light from a lamp (as I often work at night or first thing in the morning), and a computer. I also like plants, so I always have one.’

200 Voices

21.12.11

Ania Bas

This is the view from my live/work/sleep space in London.

I can't see much of the world outside whilst at my desk, to rest I usually just stare at the wall of evergreen shrubs. This keeps me focused.

My desk is my communications headquarters, R&D lab, my operations office and my conference room.

200 Voices

20.12.11

Amreen Khan

 

Amreen Khan investigates the concept of cultures, in particular her struggle between two contrasting societies, one being her origins in Pakistan and the Western society.

By looking at these cultures she is able to transfer her knowledge of these cultures into her paintings on canvas.

200 Voices

15.12.11

Christina Mitrentse

 
 

'This is a photo of the Hackney Wick area where I have my studio. This is a wall based Mural in the centre of the artistic mecca. Part of the Hackney Wicked Art Festival, it responds to the current sociopolitical events around the globe.

 

Being a Greek artist living and working in Hackney for the last decade, I see this mural as being an emblem of the post-capitalism cluster. It is an euphoric statement in response to the socio-political events that threaten EU , UK and the global society.

200 Voices

09.12.11

Sarawut Chutiwongpeti- Thailand

"What are the thoughts, doubts, fears, uncertainties, and reflections that we have and experience as we head towards the new material and immaterial territories, which we are to inhabit in the future?

I am still searching for the unexplored facets of experience.

I hope that I will be able to continue my "artistic research experiences" and wish to improve my artistic ability in the international art community."

200 Voices

01.12.11

200 Voices - Open Call

200 Voices will profile, spread and showcase some of the world’s most exciting artists online throughout 2012. Launching on January 1, submissions will be streamed throughout the year.

We are asking for submissions of an image, short film, piece of music or text which reflects on your local experience as a practising artist in your country, for example, a photograph of your studio or the view from your studio window.What is it like to be an artist working in your country? How do your local surroundings and context influence your work and your practice? Is there anything you would like to say to other artists across the world about your situation?

200 Voices

01.12.11

Susan Keshet- UK

‘I work next to Shoreham Harbour in Sussex - It's a busy harbour dealing with materials from all over the world for the construction industry.

My work addresses the world/reality as a construction so there are strong overlaps between my practice and my location.

200 Voices

23.11.11

Arno Baude - Vietnam

I live abroad, in South East Asia. Here, a ‘paradise’ is preserved for western tourists and investors in “amazing Thailand” and “wonderful Indonesia”. These sound like perfect getaways, but symbolize globalization to me. 

The tropics are home to extravagant plenitude as well as bitter destitution. My works show the ambivalence.

200 Voices

19.10.11

Felipe Rizzo Prux - Brazil

Ballet porcelain dancer from Felipe Rizzo Prux on Vimeo.

‘I guess Björk is not working part-time in a fishing boat while she is creating her next gorgeous (and ingenious) album.’

200 Voices

17.10.11

Jael Orea Arenas - Mexico

I am from Mexico City, I am a photographer and I would like to be one of your 200 voices.

200 Voices

12.10.11

Ivars Heinrihsons - Latvia

My advice? Be free! Believe in yourself, for creativity is the essence of life!