Monday 31 August 2015

Micro Galleries Media Release


Pasar Badung Market Denpasar to become an open-air gallery for global art project Micro Galleries

AUGUST 31, 2015: From October 2nd the bustling Pasar Badung Market in Denpasar and its surrounding back lanes will come to life as an open-air art gallery when international art project Micro Galleries: Changing the World...in small and creative ways comes to Indonesia for the first time. Over 40 local Indonesian and international artists will come together for Micro Galleries Denpasar to display their creative works alongside the fresh produce and arts and crafts stalls that fill the vibrant traditional market.

Micro Galleries is an international art project with the goal of bringing art, in many forms, into the community and more importantly, Micro Galleries aims to show that a community can have ownership and involvement in the creation and appreciation of art work and that art can change how people perceive social issues or their environment in a positive way – even if it simply changes someone’s day for the better. Micro Galleries Artistic Director and founder Kat Roma Greer explains, “Art is for everyone but can sometimes feel off limits to some sectors of the community. Micro Galleries wants to break art and artists out of these spaces and ingrain itself into a community, not only giving the community the chance to experience great art, but also artists the opportunity to exhibit their works in a new and dynamic environment”.

Denpasar is the first Indonesian city to host Micro Galleries, having recently appeared in the regional city of Nowra, Australia, the township of Langa, Cape Town, and Tai Hang and Wan Chai in Hong Kong. Kat explained how Denpasar was selected as the first Indonesian location. “Denpasar doesn’t get on the radar of the masses of tourists who flood Bali but we think this place is a diamond in the rough. Badung Market is a huge traditional market in the middle of Denpasar and the majority people who work there are women and children. It’s open 24 hours/day and is centered on hard work. We want to change its landscape and brighten up the day of all those who work and shop there in a positive and fun way”.

The roll call of local Indonesian artists sits at 13 and they were selected after submitting an expression of interest to the Micro Galleries crew in July this year. There are also 30 international artists, including Finnish artist Iiris-Lilja Kuosmanen. Kuosmanen works with photography and installation. Environment and the elements of the place are important to her work and themes about how people change their environment. Lately Kuosmanen has been working in Tunisia and France with some other artists in collaborational projects such as a residency in Kairouan.

Iiris-Lilja Kuosmanen will be exhibiting alongside artists such as Capiche from Australia, US based photographer Chuck Scalin, Finnish street provocateur Elissa Eriksson, Italian creative interventionists Ollla At Work, New York based initiative Slideluck, and cartoonist Kianoush Ramezani, an exiled Iranian in Paris.

Local artist and a key member of the Micro Galleries Denpasar team Arum has already stepped onto Micro Galleries’ international stage having had her artwork featured in Australia, and she is looking forward to Micro Galleries coming to her country: “From the second I met Kat and heard about Micro Galleries, I knew Indonesia would love it. We have so many great artists to showcase and we want to make a difference in people’s lives through our art. I hope this is the start of many Micro Galleries in Indonesia

The event will kick off with a huge opening weekend (2-4 October) with activities ranging from projection works, a floating installation, workshops for the community, artist chats, video art night, guided walking tours of the artworks, and a huge opening night with live music and art in the market place. It’s all free, so head online now to http://microgalleries.org/events/denpasar/ to find out more or sign up for one of tours, find out more about the artists, or just grab a map and meander through the market. 

This project is supported by the Australian Consulate General, Bali, Antida Sound Garden and Lingkara Laboratorium.

Micro Galleries currently has a crowd funding campaign in place to assist with this project: www.pozible.com/MGdenpasar

END

Images are available upon request.

Micro Galleries and participating artists are available for interviews. For more details please contact Zena Churchill at media@microgalleries.org


From the water



















Wednesday 26 August 2015

Melting slope














Inspiring at the moment, many tones of the rocks from Marseille, light that hits them so straight and makes the shadows tough.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

From the inside she rose so fast, too fast to see.







Another series that I'm working on and hoping to connect with the Carriers is this, Hanging Gardens. This is the first. I would like to combine more techniques and colours, and subjects for these series.

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Carriers






Carriers of Kairouan, #1, 2015

Portrait series of children in Kairouan streets, starting to get ready.

Bonjour






Good morning and day with these roses from Grez-Sur-Loing, is there anything more pittoresque than roses on the old walls in an old French village?

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Moving

I have been moving to a new apartment during the last week(s), so it takes some time to find a new rhythm and adjust to it.. New thoughts of new series is developing.

My friend from south wished that once in a lifetime she could see Aurora Borealis. In my hometown, Kuopio, I could see them quite often during the cold winter evenings. In Finland and many Nordic countries the Aurora is called the Fires of the Fox- as a saying that the fox is striking a spark with his tail running in the sky.. Firefox was a hunter's primary wish or target and its fur would sparkle in the dry weather (what would explain the Aurora).




Still I often think the times I saw the Aurora, once above a frozen lake in Lapland, and on the lake was a herd of reindeers. Unbelievable. But now what I really wish to see once in a lifetime, is a flight of starling birds, that seems as magical to me as the Aurora to my southern friend.   

Once in a lifetime. They seem to be moving as much as myself, but together, creating a new, calm movement that also returns. Creating a new form.