CLARK HOUSE INITIATIVE
Mumbai, Maharashtra – 2016:
Founded in 2010 by curators Zasha Colah and Sumesh Sharma, Clark House began as a curatorial initiative, which gradually turned into an artists’ union. Its current members Amol Patil, Yogesh Barve and Savia Lopes, share, “CHI was never about the physical space it inhabited. It was somewhere also about activating and reaching out to other spaces which were never seen as exhibition spaces. CHI was interested in backgrounds that dealt with difficult issues, with identities that were questionable and the unknown stories that people tried to forget or cover up.“
Through their residencies, CHI intended to create an environment of engagement with their audience and a dialogue that extended away from their geographies. Contributions to the space’s programming such as exhibitions, talks and performances became manifestations through the residency programme. Artist Caecilia Tripp was the first resident CHI ever hosted.
Tripp, in fact, put together the model of production they had at CHI. “CHI’s residency production also aimed to create audiences through the act of production, where fair labour was paid, authorship was recognised equal to artistic authorship and towards sustaining artisan practices in the city,” they say. “The production in CHI’s residency also supported artists who wished to work and collaborate with artisan practices and industrial manufacturing existent in Bombay and its hinterlands.”
This effort was made possible by one of their past resident artist, Simon Liddiment; who saw the idea of the studio on the street, a city that still functioned as a production unit and had not been gentrified.
CHI’s physical residency space launched in the month of November 2016 with Camille Alena and Tom Humphreys. Other artists include Charles Aubin, Virgile Fraisse, Fabien Vallos, Janek Simon, Tomaz Kowalski, Aryakrishnan R, Marc Ohrem Leclef, Marie Helen Periera, Aissatou Diop, Hamedine Kane, Saleh Lo, Jihan El Tahari and Frida Robles to name a few. The residency has now relocated in Borivali, Mumbai.
Text Courtesy : Space118
Image Courtesy : Clark House Initiative