12 Sep 2013

Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts: Engaging Minds

Most professionals - from doctors to lawyers to teachers - have conferences to share information, network and learn of the latest trends. Oddly, few exist to address practicing artists' needs. And, still fewer do so on a global scale.

TransCultural Exchange's Conferences on International Opportunities in the Arts were created for this reason. Produced every other year, their main aim is to let artists know about the wealth of opportunities for them to participate, interact and work with their international peers. These Conferences bring together hundreds of artists with speakers from more than forty countries - curators, critics, gallery dealers and artist-in-residency directors. This year's activities range from a performance by Laurie Anderson, tours of MIT's Art and Architecture program, a session hosted by the International Art Critics Association (AICA), informal gatherings, and panel discussions to portfolio reviews. The conference schedule is available at www.transculturalexchange.org/conference_2013/schedule.htm

With Boston University as this year's academic host, the bulk of the panels will take place at the school's George Sherman Union with other activities throughout Boston and Cambridge, including at MIT, Harvard University, the Boston Center for the Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This year's theme 'Engaging Minds' is meant to encourage artists not only to attend programs where they can become acquainted with other cultures and meet/work with their international peers, but also to address many artists' growing desire to engage in other fields of study. Speakers, such as astronomer and Voyager team scientist Merav Opher, biomedical modeling inventor Crispin Weinberg, 'New York Times' best-selling author Reif Larsen, cognitive interaction technologist Florian Grond and fashion designer Carla Fernandez have been invited to engage artists in their work - to inspire and serve as a catalysts for new avenues of artistic exploration and new points of intersection, where barriers dissolve and alternate forms of understanding evolve.

The legendary pioneer in performance and electronic music Laurie Anderson will serve as the Conference keynote speaker/performer. The winner of the 2010 German sound prize Florian Dombois will create a temporary public artwork for the occasion, which includes shooting a red laser through the Boston skyline; and, a showcase of Taiwanese new media works will be on view in Boston University's 808 Gallery.

Also among the many speakers are Jean-Baptiste Joly, founder and director of Germany's Akademie Schloss Solitude; Ariene Koek, director of Collide@CERN's artist-in-residency program; Laura Harrison, documentary film producer and president of the Bogliasco Foundation in Italy; Taylor Van Horne, founding director of Brazil's Instituto Sacatar; Andrei Siciodi, director of Austria's Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen; Margaret Shiu Tan, director of Taiwan's Bamboo Curtain residency; Raphael Cuir, the vice-president of AICA; Michael Schwab, editor of the 'Journal for Artistic Research'; Gediminas and Nomeda Urbonas, Venice Biennale National Pavilion Prize winners (2007); Doris Sommer, founder of Harvard University's Cultural Agents; Marko Peljan, artist and coordinator of the Arctic Perspective Initiative; John Grande, co-curator with Peter Selz of 'Eco-Art' at Finland's Pori Art Museum; and Zhang Ga, Consulting Curator of Media Art at the National Art Museum of China and Senior Researcher at the Media + Design Lab of EPFL | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, among many others.
(The full list of speakers with a brief biography of each is available at:
www.transculturalexchange.org/conference_2013/speakers.htm.)

We welcome you to join us at this rare opportunity – a moment when Boston welcomes the art world with former Governor Michael Dukakis speaking at the formal opening night reception, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, on October 11, 2013.

Dates: October 10 -13, 2013, starting October 10th at 10 am.

Location: Boston University's George Sherman Union (775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02115) with attendant activities at the Boston Center for the Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, French Cultural Center of Boston and the Boston Architectural College.

Participants: Hundreds of artists, speakers, art critics, moderators and portfolio reviewers.

Regular registration deadline is September 20, 2013. Online registration is available at www.transculturalexchange.org/conference_2013/registration.htm

Registration form:
Available online at www.transculturalexchange.org/conference_2013/registration.htm
Price: $355 purchased before September 20, 2013. (Students: $215. For artists under the age of 35 or living 250 miles outside of the Boston, there are a limited number of 2-for-1 tickets available.)

Included:
Access to all panels and workshops during the 4 days, including Laurie Anderson's keynote performance and networking events.
Portfolio reviews are an additional $35/per review.
Saturday gala dinner tickets are an additional $85.

Not Included:
- Flights/Transportation
- Accommodation and board

About TransCultural Exchange
TransCultural Exchange is a 501c3 non-profit organization, whose mission is to bridge cultural, geographic, political and linguistic divides by bringing people together through the arts in order to foster a greater understanding of world cultures.

Conference Sponsors: Boston University's College of Fine Arts, Boston University's Arts Initiative, the National Endowment for the Arts, Asian Cultural Council, swissnex Boston, swissnex San Francisco, SWISS International Air Lines, Ltd, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Brazilian Consulate (Boston), Eesti Kulturkkapital (Estonia) Consulat Général de France à Boston, French Cultural Center of Boston, Institut Français, Délégation du Québec à Boston, Ministry of Culture (Taiwan), Boston College, Northeastern University, Bank of America Matching Gift Program, Boston Cultural Council, Lightwave International, Mercantile Bank, Second Street Associates, LLC, 'Art New England,' 'Berkshires Fine Arts,' and 'Big, Red & Shiny.'