Preparing for Venice

Who am I?

'Venice loves me back- Performance 2015

I am an artist, art consultant, project manager and PhD candidate in creative pedagogies at Arts University Bournemouth.

This year, I was lucky enough to receive a Venice Biennale British Council Research Fellowship through a-space arts, Southampton. I will be heading to Venice on the 31st of July, staying untill the 30th of August,(returning just in time to celebrate our wedding anniversary).


https://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/fellowship/about

http://aspacearts.org.uk/news/venice-art-biennale-a-space-fellowship-artists-announced

Why go to Venice at the hottest time of the year?

As a French native born on the ocean seaside, I am a definite sun worshiper and cannot resist an opportunity to live near water.
I also currently teach at the Salisbury 6th form College and decided to dedicate my summer break to researching the arts in the grand setting of Venice.

What kind of art do I do?

I graduated in Fashion-design in 1993 and then again in Fine Art in France in 1995. I have 22 years of experience working as a freelance artist and consultant in the UK, developing commissions and projects for the private and public sector.

I was awarded three Grants for Arts by Arts Council England and a a-n Re-View bursary.

My work has been shown in galleries, arts centres and museums across England, France and Italy.

I have developed residencies for educational institutions, and heritage and cultural organisations such as Salisbury International Arts Festival, Stonehenge World Heritage Centre, Swindon Museum and Art Galleries, the John Hansard Gallery, Winchester University and Winchester School of Art.

I also intitiated numerous projects in non-art settings working with local councils, farms, schools, ex-military grounds, hospitals and further health care settings. 

I am in the middle of a PhD research study in creative pedagogies at Arts University Bournemouth, supported by Arts University London, focussing on live-art in education as a process-based learning opportunity for young people's development. 
My research investigates the potential for 'artistic disruptions' to become moments of deep learning for young people in secondary education. The research includes the development of a new live-art methodology which revives a progressive educational debate, and hopes to impact on government educational policies in the long term.

I am involved in a collaborative research on 'Dissent' with Chapel Arts Studios, and am connected to the wider research community for creative learning through conferences and networks opportunities.

The first findings have been presented and well received in conferences in Tampere, Finland, Lisbon, Portugal , Central St Martin, London, AUB, Bournemouth, and John Hansard Gallery, Souhtampton. 

Researching what in Venice?

I will be researching the place of live-art, social practice and engagement in the biennale through performative interventions, in response to Ralph Rugoff(curator)'s title 'May we live in interesting times'.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/biennale-arte-2019-may-you-live-interesting-times

I will visit and research each venue to explore the strategies employed for 'truly' engaging people in the work, and how this may transform our ways of seeing and being in the world.

In my response I will explore the use of unconventional process to challenge the notion of engagement, hoping to reveal the 'true' value of art.