Selection of the third research residency collective
HOW DO YOU CREATE THE CONDITIONS FOR YOUR COLLECTIVE ART PRACTICE TO LIE FALLOW?
“(Lying Fallow) is, above all, a way of providing a frame within which a group of people might work through some ideas together. It’s a simple premise but feels urgent and exciting to me, because it invites the possibility of great change without determining how that change might happen, where it might come from, or what it might be.” Rajni Shah
a.pass has been inviting collectives for a 2-month paid collective research residency. In total there have been three rounds, for this third and last round, with deadline February 28, we have made the selection of the third (and last) collective!
In total we received 156 applications, our jury went through all the applications and selected 3 collectives with whom they had a conversation. Eventually, after listening to all 3 collectives, the jury (Hendrik De Smedt, Simone Basani and Lucia Palladino for a.pass together with the 3 external jury members Ash Bulayev, Ichraf Nasri and Kopano Maroga) has decided to give the opportunity for this 3rd call to the collective Arquitectura Expandida, a collective based in Bogotá since 2010, working at the intersection of art, architecture, urbanism, and activism with a focus on the right to the city.
Arquitectura Expandida collective collaborates with grassroots movements to research, explore, and create alternative spaces for experimental governance, citizen participation, and self-management in peripheral urban areas. With a focus that lies on the right to the city, urban commons, and rebalancing power asymmetries in public space, aiming to bring decision-making about the city closer to those traditionally excluded from these debates. Facing real violence and threats (2 participants have been murdered by the police), the collective sees the need for distance and lying fallow in order to evaluate and better understand their practices, the normalization of violence, and the role of art not only as a tool for activism but also for healing. Part of this transdisciplinary collective are Harold Guyaux, Ana López Ortego (2 architects), Viviana Parada (visual artist), Camilo Pinto (a.k.a. Casi Nadie, rapper/hip-hop artist) and Sabina Rodríguez (environmental lawyer).
For all of the above mentioned elements the jury believes that Arquitectura Expandida’s residency will be complementary to the ones of One Field Fallow and Topote de Acahual. Their proposal truly resonates with our understanding of what art can be: a political tool, deeply rooted in social realities, context-aware, and capable of forming meaningful connections, especially in public spaces. The vision is clear and grounded, and the approach comes across as both honest and humble. Their research approach to public spaces, and to the creation of space and time for mourning and debates around rights and justice seems to resonate with the most conflictual and painful sides of Brussels city life. This approach could also help a.pass to rethink the intersection between artistic research and relationship with the local territory.
They will have their residency end of June till end of August 2025 (tbc). Soon we will give more info about their residency program, in the meantime, find out who they are by following this link.