Whiti o Rehua School of Art
College of Creative Arts
Massey University Wellington
New Zealand, Aotearoa
Three contemporary artists have been selected for the inaugural French artist-in-residence programme run by Massey University’s School of Art and Wellington City Council.
In partnership with Te Whare Hēra Wellington International Artist Residency, the Cultural Office of the French Embassy in New Zealand has developed the special initiative enabling the participation of French contemporary artists in the residency programme in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The 2016 recipients are Etienne de France (in residence from February to April) and the duo Louise Hervé and Chloé Maillet (in residence from May to July). The call for a 2017 artist will close on Monday January 18, 2016, and details can be found here.
Whiti o Rehua School of Art curator and associate professor Heather Galbraith says, “The programme is designed to bring exciting contemporary international artists to live, work and exhibit in Wellington city, and to connect with our creative sector and diverse Wellington audiences. We are thrilled to be partnering with the French Embassy to bring leading French artists to Wellington.” Artists stay in an impressive live/work suite comprising an apartment, studio and gallery space situated within the prestigious Clyde Quay Wharf Development in downtown Wellington City. The studio is located at the prow end of the wharf with an incredible vista across Wellington Harbour.
Raynald Belay, Head of the Scientific and Cultural Office at the French Embassy in New Zealand notes, “Visual arts have been thriving in France in the recent years, with a new generation of internationally recognised artists and curators actively seeking worldwide connections. A rich and vibrant ecosystem with new galleries and museums is notorious, spurred by recent investments from local governments and private foundations alike. Te Whare Hēra will enable better communications and understanding between the French and New Zealand artistic scenes and we hope it will pave the way for many successful collaborations.”
The Te Whare Hēra French artist-in-residence programme is a joint initiative of the French Embassy in New Zealand, Massey University, and the Wellington City Council.
Etienne de France (born in 1984) is a visual artist currently living in Paris. He pursues a multidisciplinary art practice, drawing on the fields of architecture and sciences. De France’s work utilises a variety of media, including writing, video, photography, drawing and sculpture. Notable works include Tales of a Sea Cow (2012), a film and series of accompanying works about the rediscovery of a marine mammal in Greenland, and Icelandtraincity (2011), the project of a utopian modular city moving on train tracks. In 2013, he realized a 200km walking performance and video called Exploration of a Failure.
De France plans to develop new works, and hopes that working in this unique geographical and historical context will enable him to give new directions to a central questioning in his work: the differences between concepts of nature and landscape.
Louise Hervé and Chloé Maillet, both born in 1981, have been working as a duo for more than 10 years. They pursue research-based projects for two or three years at a time, each chapter of which takes the form of a film or a series of films, an exhibition or a publication. Their collaborative practice focuses on the act of narration, bringing together historical facts, fiction or new realities often taking the form of films, installations and performative conferences—a mixture of lecture, performance and conference. Their methodology combines scientific discourse with personal comments and has been described as an “archaeology of knowledge.”
Hervé and Maillet plan to scout for locations and meet academics and researchers, then to write a script of a performance while organising photo shoots or film sessions. At the culmination of the residency, they will present a public performance guiding the audience through the material they have collected.
Louise Hervé and Chloé Maillet are represented by Marcelle Alix gallery, Paris.
About the Te Whare Hēra French artist-in-residence programme
The Te Whare Hēra Wellington International Artist Residency is a non-commercial initiative run by Massey University’s Whiti o Rehua School of Art and the Wellington City Council. The residency provides an exciting and unique opportunity for established professional, internationally-based artists to live and work in a spectacular location on Wellington harbour. Selected artists are granted a live/work studio suite within Willis Bond & Co.’s prestigious Clyde Quay Wharf Development, and will engage with the creative and cultural life of the city while participating in a 4–6 week cycle of public-facing events. In support of the meaningful, cross-cultural exchange of ideas, this programme fosters creativity, and engages with a diversity of disciplines and modes of practice. A residency runs for three to six months and is by invitation only. De France, Hervé and Maillet join the Te Whare Hēra artist alumni of Christian Thompson, Sasha Huber and Petri Saarikko, and Martín Sastre, who have undertaken residencies since October 2014.
Whiti o Rehua School of Art is a leading contemporary art school in New Zealand. Its faculty are leaders in their fields, exhibiting and publishing internationally. Whiti o Rehua is part of Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in fine art, design and Māori visual arts, and has been awarded “substantial equivalency” status by NASAD.
Contact: Associate Professor Ann Shelton, [email protected]
