Artists Connecting in Transition

Residency program

arthereistanbul and partners are thrilled to announce the six exceptional artists who have been selected to take part in our new program Artists Connecting in Transition (ACT). Led by D6 (UK), with residency spaces MedeArts (Jordan) and arthereistanbul (Turkey), bringing in the expertise of the Fanak Fund who work across the Arab-speaking world, ACT sets out to connect artists whose practice has been disrupted by forced migration and address the challenges of artistic practice in exile.

Following a very competitive open call, the partners selected two artists based in each participating country:

Jordan: Hescham Karschan | Mohammed Bitar

Turkey: Ammar Alhamidi | Hazem Waked

UK: Amak Mahmoodian, Ph.D. | Zariq Rosita-Hanif

Funded by the British Council, ACT will involve a program of hybrid residencies, capacity-building workshops, and local exhibitions. It will support the practice of individual artists, give international visibility to their work, and share knowledge between organizations.

The number of people fleeing wars, violence, and human rights violations reached a new high by the end of 2020. ACT reconsiders new models for artist residencies in urban settings, addressing issues of reduced mobility due to exiled status. By connecting artists in their local contexts, in Irbid (border city to Syria), Istanbul (main crossroads in the Middle East), and Newcastle (interconnected hosting city), the project will contribute to addressing the inequalities of the periphery to center and face issues of equality for those with and without rights.