The Artists
The HAT programme of research opportunities have been set up for artists whose practice is rooted in the contemporary crafts, although this should not exclude visual artists whose work crosses the boundaries of classification of applied arts. There is particular interest in being able to include artist practitioners who may not have followed a European based art education, who can open up the established notions of what constitutes quality contemporary crafts work to embrace folk arts, or popular cultural practices.
The fellowships will be offered primarily as opportunities for artists who can be described as “mid-career” designer makers: they will be established and critically accredited practitioners.
Artists will be selected on the basis of the professional development benefits to i) themselves, ii) to wider networks of contemporary practitioners, iii) to the contribution they can make to the overall objectives of the HAT project and iv) the appropriateness or fit with the hosts’ post-residency programmes.
Put more simply, artists will be selected who are
- well placed to gain professionally from the residency and
- able to make a significant contribution to the project for the benefit of other artists, the hosts and wider audiences.
It is anticipated that artists will be from a range of crafts based disciplines and with different approaches to production: one-off, prototyping, editioned or batch production work. The creative rationale behind the work is likely to range through conceptual, issue-based, functional and decorative ornamentation.
Artists will be nominated for inclusion in the HAT programme by the host and partner organisations within their region. The artists will be asked to provide a written residency research outline.
