A post without pictures .
My dilmemna is this. I am curating an exhibition entitled Across Australia, which has been on exhibition at the Panorama Mesdag in the Netherlands. It comes down tomorrow and will be transported to Egypt and then Tripoli in Libya for exhibition,and then it will be shown in the Opera Gallery in Cairo as part of a celebration of Australian culture ( 26 January is our national day). The exhibition will then go onto Damascus and Aleppo in Syria and then onto Kuwait and another Middle eastern destination which is still being negotiated. This is all very exciting and I will be going to Egypt and Syria and Kuwait in January, February and early March to help install the exhibition and to deliver floor talks and also do demonstrations together with Jenny Bowker.The Australian Embassy in Cairo have managed to secure funding for the Middle Eastern part of the Across Australia travels and so my airfare is being sponsored ( thank you Emirates!) and also funding from BHP Billeton ( thank you BHP!) for accommodation costs , trasportation costs and the production of a catalogue which will be an Australian government gift to people who attend the formal functions that have been organised. And Jenny has helped me in securing some teaching in Kuwait and Dubai at the end of the trip.
However alas there is no curating fee for me- because in all reality this is being done on a very tight budget, and I appreciate the efforts that have been made by the Australian Embassy in Cairo and the sponsors who have seen fit to sponsor. But it also takes 7 weeks out of my working life where technically I will be working in a sense but not receiving any wage. I have also decided to take my eldest daughter, Celeste, as the experience of visiting the Middle east with such chaperonage is too good an opportunity to miss. She in a small way will also be a cultural ambassador for her country and she will be studying the jewellery of the region for the independent research project she is doing at school next year.
Unfortunately I cannot apply for funding here as I am curating this as an independant curator without organisational support- so I am not an incorporated association etc etc .
So I am trying to think of ways to raise some money which will at least allow me to leave some money behind that my absence causes and to also find a way to raise money for Celeste's airfare. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated!
I will also later today put all of my quilts that I have at home on my Seriously Textile blog , and because I am going to the middle east where negotiating a price is a time honoured process, I am open to negotiation on the prices on my quilts, but the offers do need to be reasonable (ggg). I will only leave them up for one week.
3 comments:
Can you raffle off one of your pieces? Will you be allowed to take your personal work along for the opportunity to sell it? Are there any womanist/feminist organizations in your area that would give you a stipend as an independent artist in exchange for doing a presentation upon your return? This is such a great opportunity for you and your daughter to experience together!
Here's a very sketchy idea - I can't recall many details.
I recall hearing about someone that sold "shares" of one of their overseas trips to fund it. For the price of a share I think the person got a piece of art inspired during the trip in exchange - to be delivered after the trip. I know there was more to it than that but don't really remember - maybe a google search on some key words related to this will turn up some ideas.
Are you *certain* you can't get funding? Do you have a regional arts board that distributes funding? (One of the benefits of going to TAFE to do art has been learning about these sort of things). I know up here in Queensland, anyway, we can get Regional Arts Development Fund money for "artistic growth", basically, as well as funding to help photograph work and put on exhibitions. It's not a LOT of money, certainly not a living wage (I think the top amount is $2000) but it's better than nothing. And what about organisations like NAVA or the Vic equivalent of ArtWorkers Alliance - could be worth a try?
Best wishes and good luck with finding some $$ to help with this.
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