INTERNATIONAL@Hothouse

ACE: Romania & Czech Republic 2007

Arts Cultural Enterprise: Romania & Czech Republic 2007 is intended to provide a model to show how creative entrepreneurs may develop their roles through international cultural exchange in the context of gallery education and vocational training.

In 2005 Free Form piloted an artist exchange project with Galeria Grigore Mora in Bucharest, co-ordinating 2 innovative arts projects with Santa Macrina Foundation a Street Children and Homeless Shelter and Casa Ioana (the only night shelter in Bucharest).

2007 has seen an expansion of Free Form’s international programme with three new international artist exchange projects to Prague, Bucharest and Turda in Transylvania. 13 UK based artist/trainers benefited from this programme which has been supported by the Leonardo Mobility Programme.

ACE: Prague Czech Republic 20th May – 2nd June 2007

‘I would definitely like to work in the Czech Rep. again and I feel that this exchange has given me a good insight into the possibilities of doing so. Specific techniques that I learnt I will definitely use in future projects both for my own personal work and work with students’.

Livvy Fink – Artist Beneficiary

A living mural of ‘epic’ dimensions was produced by a team of five Free Form artists over two weeks, working with students and staff at Open Gate School.
Open Gate opened in 2005 and is the first boarding school in the Czech Republic. Students produced designs based on capital cities around the world to mark the international ethos of the new school. The designs were made into a mosaic ceramic tile city skyline linked by a river of broken mosaic mirror that stretched across a 60 metre length of wall between two accommodation blocks on the school campus. Free Form artists also visited the studios of local artists around Prague and Babice where the school is based.

UK artists included Livvy Fink, Shahed Ahmed, Jenny Mckenzie, Kate Williams, Free Form Training Manager Robert Worley. Open Gate Project Manager Meg Aubrey.

ACE: Bucharest Romania 17th - 30th June 2007

‘This is a huge development for myself as an individual practicing artist/illustrator”
Jhinuk Sarkar – Artist Beneficiary

A ceiling mural on the theme of ‘home’ and garden sculptures in cast pewter inspired by angels’ wings.
Five Free Form artists worked for two weeks with a team of Romanian artists from Galeria Grigore Mora on a series of art projects for Sfanta Macrina Children’s hostel in Bucharest. Children at the centre worked with the artists to produce hanging mobile shapes from wire and beads and many imaginative paintings of houses and objects which inhabit their every day lives. These designs were incorporated into the ceiling of a newly built conference room for the centre.

This was a return visit for Free Form after running a series of jewellery making workshops at the centre during the 2005 exchange programme.

For further images of this project follow this link http://www.ilovebucharest.blogspot.com/

Alina Tudor and Razvan Neagoe from Galeria Grigore Mora were the lead artists for this project. UK artists included Andrew Dwyer, Joel Parkes, Sarah Hammond and Jhinuk Sarkar. Free Form Training Manager Robert Worley.

ACE: Turda Romania 18th Sept – 1st October 2007

‘It contributed to my professional development by allowing me to develop my skills as a community artist in an international context’
Douglas Nicolson – Artist Beneficiary

Work produced included forest of painted trees and banners and signs for a Transylvanian street festival. Five Free form artists were invited by the Ratiu Family Foundation to take part in TurdaFest 2007, a street festival of folk music and traditional costume parades based in the Romanian town of Turda. The artist team worked with festival volunteers and staff at the Ratiu Democracy Centre in Turda to come up with ideas for a series of art projects for the weekend event. Highlights included the children’s story telling area of the park being transformed with coloured lime paint, and giant onions made from hazel wood and coloured tissue paper.
  
UK artists included Claire Brewster, Constanza Cibils, Stephen Shiell, Douglas Nicolson. Free Form Training Manager Robert Worley.

This programme was funded by Leonardo Mobility UK

Free Form would like to thank all those who were involved and who spent their valuable time to make these projects possible.