Nida A-I-R in March 2017

: Published on Friday, 10 March 2017 11:06

Marianna Maruyama, Wolfgang Bender, Margaret Tali, Liza Baliasnaja and Sidney Barnes. Photo by Skaistė Marčienė

We are very excited to introduce our new residents. Wolfgang Bender (AT), Margaret Tali (NL/EE), Johanna Schmeer (DE/UK), Liza Baliasnaja (LT/BE) and Sidney Barnes (UK/BE) will live and work at Nida Art Colony in March.

Margaret Tali (NL/EE) is a writer, curator and teacher. She completed her PhD at the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam, having analyzed the production of otherness in the climate of neoliberalization and nationalism in European art museums. Originally from Tallinn, she has called Amsterdam her home since 2009. Margaret has taught art theory and museology at Maastricht University, Sandberg Institute, Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, and Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has also curated several events and exhibitions both in the Netherlands and in Estonia. Together with Tanel Rander she has recently co-edited the anthology Archives and Disobedience. Changing Tactics of Visual Culture in Eastern Europe (2016).

During her Nida residency Margaret will be working on an exhibition project about artistic narratives of experiences of displacement and involuntary migration in the course of 20th century. She will also be finishing revising her book based on her dissertation. Next to this she hopes to get to know the Lithuanian art scene ‒ meet local artists, researchers and curators.

Johanna Schmeer (DE/UK) is an artist and designer. Her inquiry-based work explores the intersections of design, art, science, technology, and futures.She designs objects and experiences demonstrating the social, ethical, and cultural impact of new technologies on everyday life, with a focus on materials, narratives, and the human body. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including recently at the National Museum Stockholm, Ars Electronica Center Linz, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, and the Venice Biennale of Architecture. She teaches design at the University of the Arts Berlin and is a doctoral researcher at the Royal College of Art in London. During her time at Nida Art Colony she will be working on research into emerging technologies in food production and public engagement in conceptual design practices.

Photo from the Liza's archive

Liza Baliasnaja (LT/BE) is an artist working in a field of dance. She graduated from P.A.R.T.S (Performing Art and Research Training Studios) in 2016. Since then Liza has been working as a performer as well as developing her own work, teaching, exchanging. Liza is interested in looking at the relationship between dance theory and practice, choreographic methodology, and collaborative strategies.

Photo from the Sidney's archive

Sidney Barnes (UK/BE) is a recently graduated artist working across various disciplines, music, dance and printmaking. He is currently interested in working in a collaborative environment while maintaining an individual artistic process.

Liza and Sidney. Photo from the artists archive

During their stay in Nida, Liza and Sidney will be developing a dance performance which can be performed solo, as a duo, or as a starting point to research other possible performance modes. Combining their interests, they will work on themes/notions such as wind, live composition, and lycanthropy. They both share an interest in movement and choreography, and therefore question what it means to produce and compose in a collaborative mode.

Portrait Wolfgang Bender, Rome, February 2017, courtesy C. Bender, Bildrecht Vienna

Wolfgang Bender (AT) lives and works in Vienna and has a solid experience in artistic practice, working with photographic representation, lines, traces and participatory strategies inviting audiences to become an important part of his work. During the residency Wolfgang Bender is going to explore concepts of mapping and walking via photographic representation. He is planning to use the Nida beach signage system, unused in the off-season. He is staying in Nida with a grant from Vorarlberg land in Austria.