notes: residency with the 1/2 dozen.

Just finished the residency with Ruark and Jon.

It really brings the question of how 2 curatorial groups go about with a cultural exchange.

The project was initiated by 1/2 Dozen - the framework that is - to send 2 australian artists and we were to send a Singapore artist to Sydney.

With Ruark and Jon, the focus was on the exhibition and the act of making work.

I guess this kind of residency is common in most places. But a first for us to have artists who focus on making objects for an exhibition.

The time is too short for the artists to actually make contact with other members of the community. In that sense, the exchange here are the exchange of art objects.

I suppose that means that the success of that kind of exchange - really depends on the dialogue of the object - between the audience, the community and the curators. ie. how the objects engage with these communities.

For me, inter-cultural practice and inter-cultural sensibility is at the core of an cultural exchange. Expecting objects to dialogue - is demanding a little too much of objects.

Cultural exchange requires more effort on both sides.