26 Feb 2023 - 10 Jun 2023
Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Arts Hall
Application deadline:
Feb 1st, 2023
Duration:
Feb 26th - Jun 10th. 2023
Misk Art Residencies aims to support artistic development and practice by promoting the possibilities of meaningful exchange between the local community and the global cultural landscape. The Masaha Residency is designed to cultivate the art sector by facilitating discourse, research, and experimentation around themes that concern the local community.
This year, the Masaha Residency will focus on bringing together emerging artists and Arabic writers to deliberate the topic of tradition. Tradition is an element that defines a society; it is coveted and practiced. It reflects cultural identity, collective values, and historical aesthetics. It is uniquely specific to a place yet simultaneously connected with surrounding geographies. And so, with so much change in the air, how do we preserve, conserve, and deploy it in our current moment?
In collaboration with guest curator Lulwah Al Homoud and three expert mentors, the fifth cycle of Misk Art Institute’s biannual Masaha Residency invites ten emerging visual artists and two Saudi Arabic writers to interrogate the means and methods of implementing their cultural traditions within the arts.
With a mix of local and international artists and experts, this residency asks if the discourse surrounding the history of traditional art requires interrogation; whether art can be utilized to safeguard cultural tradition; what artistic inspiration occurs through different cultural exchanges; and how to bridge the outdated narrative gap between tradition and innovation.
Program Structure
Weekly mentorship
Three sessions with a guest curator
Up to four masterclasses
Up to four workshops and lectures
Weekly lunches/meetings
Development of project and budget proposals
Up to four trips to cultural/historical sites in Riyadh
Public engagement through open studios and resident-led educational programing
Networking sessions via studio visits by veteran artists and art practitioners
Up to four crit sessions with external and internal collaborators
Final group exhibition showcase, funded by Misk Art Institute
Who’s It For?
The Masaha Residency is open to
Ten full-time emerging Saudi and international visual artists who meet one or more of the following criteria:
3+ years of fine arts experience
3+ years of exhibiting history
Actively practicing and engaging in the arts
Two full-time Saudi Arabic art writers, preferably with professional writing experience—not creative writers.
Residents Will Gain
Time and space to focus on researching a new theme-related project
External and internal experts to advise, provide feedback, and critique your research and project
Long-lasting contacts within the Saudi and international arts network
Exposure to and from important members of the art community (such as artists, press, curators, etc.)
Group showcase exhibiting your new body of work
Professional development as an artist/writer
Additional Programing For Writers
Professional art writing development exercises
Writing one article about each of their fellow residents
An art writing project that engages critically with the theme "tradition"
*Only for those who are not based in Riyadh.