Perth to exchange artists with Taipei

by Bernadette Lim

May 12, 2008

ONE Perth artist will get the chance to visit the island nation of Taipei, and a Taipei artist will take residency at Central TAFE, in an upcoming artist exchange program.

Helen Hewitt, City of Perth’s Arts and Cultural Development Coordinator, said the selected Perth artist would be sent to the Taipei Artist village for three months.

“The artists will be able to improve their own arts practice, as well as gain international recognition,” Ms Hewitt said. “Artists will be exposed to a new market place.”

Perth based visual artist and Edith Cowan University lecturer Gregory Pryor, the artist chosen for the exchange in 2007, said the program allowed him to build a diverse range of contacts as well as increase his knowledge of Chinese history.

“The project was sort of like a diary,” Pryor said. “Every day, I would write notes at the end of the day, and from the written material, I would produce an image.

 “The drawings were done on Chinese paper or Chinese painting silk so it was all very traditional.”

The artwork he produced during his residency was featured in a Taipei Artist Village exhibition, as well as the 2008 Adelaide Biennial.