Funding for international travel and exchange

D day for Tate Liverpool staff. The unions are in and the meeting is now into it’s third hour… We should have more news about who loses their jobs tomorrow.

I wrote this in draft form a few days ago and forgot about it. Life takes over… or rather – work… proposals, fixing and painting broken fencing while the sun is out… you know how it is.

Rather aptly though, I was looking at the Woolgather short listed artists this week. One of the nominated artists – Bruce Davies, is part of ‘Sci’, the collaborative group I set up to start overseas projects. Bruce’s group ‘Peripheral’ collaborated with ‘Soup Collective’ during the 2008 Liverpool Biennial. We set up something like 15 venues between Leeds and Liverpool during the Biennial and we seemed to be forever travelling and taking work down. Never again.

Anyway – Woolgather : http://www.woolgatherartprize.com/ I like the theme: Each artist was asked to produce a video responding to how they sustain their practice and support a creative lifestyle.

Fitting in the creative lifestyle with everything else AND make a living. Hmmm… yes…..

So back to Monday’s visit to the community centre…

So much unused space and so many staff, but the only visitors we saw were two lads having a meal and an elderly woman enjoying a cup of tea in the cafe. Nice food by the way.

The Community centre was actually quite a find in terms of space. Upstairs had several unused offices – one in particular was quite large and had a sink in it – having been used at one time for a hairdressing course.

A very good space for an artists in Residence, but not so great to exhibit in. Needs a bit more planning.

Small projects have been to Estonia this week – linking again with other artists. It was only a few weeks since they went to Finland. Funding seems so much easier there.

If any of our proposals get accepted – we aim to be self funded. Great if we’re not – but we’ll keep it realistic.



I’ve spent the last couple of weeks or so, researching into possible future exchanges. The starting point? – highlighting cities that are easy to get to by the budget airlines.

Working on the assumption that there will be no funding available for this next trip, meticulous planning for this is crucial.

Looking at the questions raised on the final report document for the NAN bursary, I thought how lucky we had been with the Tromso exchange – as there had been relatively few problems. But then I thought – well actually, it wasn’t all down to luck – it was 90% planning and talking to people , while the 10% fell into place because of this.

The Norwegian group we visited – Small projects: http://www.smallprojects.no/ were not picked randomly. The notion of even connecting with a Scandinavian group came after a chance meeting with Ingi Thor Jonsson, Creative Director at CUC Liverpool : http://www.contemporaryurbancentre.org/liverpool/ who came to talk to us at a staff briefing at Tate Liverpool.

After telling him my idea, he suggested I contact Audhild Dahlstrøm at the Norwegian Artists abroad agency – NABROAD : http://www.nabroad.org/

I needed someone who would collaborate with me in the exhibition ‘State of perception’ at Metal, Liverpool. http://www.metalculture.com/liverpool/the-soup-collective-state-of-perception.html and Audhild suggested she put a callout to Norwegian artists.

One of the artists who got back to me – Jet Pascua : http://www.jetpascua.com/ wasn’t actually Norwegian at all – but had moved to Norway from the Philippines. He’d set up his group ‘Small Projects’ about the same time as we had set up Soup Collective, so we had a really good starting point in discussions for collaborations.

Jet exhibited at Metal with me and we began talking about the future. ( Events during the actual visit are all in my earlier blogs )

Everything that was achieved during that exchange, was achieved by going out and talking to people and following up any leads – no matter how small.

My next task? – to find something to barter with for future exchanges. I did a workshop at the Williamson Art Gallery two weeks ago and mentioned to someone that I was looking for a venue to show new work that has come out from the Tromso exchange. A Community Centre has come forward that will not only show the work but could also possibly host a residency.

If this works out, I can not only offer it to one of Jet’s group, but also make it a starting point for exchanges with other groups.



I’ve just sent off the final papers for the NAN bursary report and it was only then I realised that I’d missed things out. Damn! You think you’ve covered everything and then as soon as you press the send button – BAM – another memory about the visit pops back in.

We’ve only been back two weeks, but it feels much longer. I was looking at a Small Projects posting on face book about the new artist they are now exhibiting, and I felt a pang of jealousy. It feels like the dust hasn’t quite settled since we were there.

So what have I done since getting back? I’ve been to work…. more meetings have now gone on at Tate about the cuts. Yes, they will be made. They are reviewing each department, one at a time – starting with front of house – the most short staffed and the lowest paid. Decisions to be made in April.

Work wise ( the other type) for me… I made the most of the good weather last weekend and started casting some resin pieces. Even working outside, it made me feel wheezy. I wanted to do more, but I suppose I will just work with the weather again.

I’d also seen a rusty old Motor bike on the fields where I walk my dog, so decided to drag that up ( with a lot of help!) No idea what to do with it yet, but I felt really excited about working with something different – something that also fits in with my present work about travel.

Well… I was excited – until I received an email this morning from METAL. They are advertising the next Liverpool art prize – and there, staring me in the face was an image of a rusty old bike exhibited in a gallery space. Grrr…

Richard Profitt – I’m watching you!! http://richardproffitt.blogspot.com/



It’s been a strange week in work. ( Tate, that is ) It’s been a week of not being able to get hold of anyone in the management team…. of seeing an extraordinary email from a union rep… and finally – yesterday, a hint of what was to come.

No official word yet – only a quick correspondence from someone who attended the union meeting last night : ‘Everyone will receive letters shortly, announcing that there will be working groups to look at flexible working hours and staffing levels’.

Mixed reactions from the staff… some are mortified at the prospect of either losing their jobs or having hours cut considerably, some seemed relieved…almost as if it’s a chance to move away and start somewhere afresh. We would after all, probably be financially better off working at Tesco.