WHAT ABOUT ART?
Mumbai, Maharashtra – 2013:
The residency at What About Art? was launched in 2013 by Eve Lemesle, founder of the arts management agency and art producer with the aim to facilitate and support art practice by offering studios to emerging artists in Bandra, Mumbai. The residency was offering nine studios situated in a quiet lane above the WAA office and project space. It ran from 2013 to 2019, thanks to the generosity of art patrons Vijay and Sunita Choraria and their art foundation ArtC.
As one of the few art residencies in Mumbai, the residency provided individual studio space, professional networking opportunities and an intellectually stimulating environment for dialogue on visual arts practices for artists and curators. In addition, the residency regularly organised artist talks and open studios.
WAA Residency saw over 250 artists attend the programme over the six years — many of them came from abroad thanks to long term partnerships we had with international institutions such as the Council for Arts and Letters of Quebec, the Bureau of Quebec in Mumbai, Pro Helvetia, And Qatar Museums. “We also mentored many emerging artists through Inlaks India Foundation programs, such as Abul Hisham, Abir Mukherjee, Mithun Das, Moumita Das, Diptej Vernekar, and Sharmishta Bose,” shares Lemesle. “The artists benefited from a tremendous support from the local art scene, with senior curators, artists and gallerists regularly visiting the studios to mentor them and give critical feed-back. We’ve seen some artists really experiment, take risks and new directions in their practices during their time at the residency”.
Text Courtesy : Space118
Image Courtesy : What About Art?