As part of the 2020 Gasworks International Residency Programme, Mercedes Zobel in partnership with Outset supported a 3-month residency for a Filipino artist Mica Cabildo, hosted at the Outset Residency Studio.
RESIDENCY: 6th January and 23rd March 2020.
Mica Cabildo – Whitehead’s Ark:
The artist’s work explores urgent questions around climate and ecology, with projects based on fieldwork, for which she adopts at once the roles of naturalist, journalist, explorer, pupil and educator, engaging in community interaction and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
During her residency at Gasworks, Mica researched the three-year Philippine expedition (1893-1896) led by the British explorer, naturalist and collector of bird specimens John Whitehead. The artist created a “Whitehead’s Ark” that speaks about biodiversity loss, mass extinction and the imbalance of power behind scientific discovery, conservation and survival.
Gasworks:
Established in 1994, Gasworks is a non-profit contemporary visual art organisation working at the intersection between UK and international practices and debates. They provide studios for London-based artists; commission emerging UK-based and international artists to present their first major exhibitions in the UK; and develop a highly-respected international residencies programme, which offers rare opportunities for international artists to research and develop new work in London. All programmes are accompanied by events and participatory workshops that engage public audiences.
In 2014 Gasworks successfully completed a £2.1 million capital campaign project by purchasing and refurbishing its building. The organisation thus secured a permanent home and a substantial asset, a huge achievement that gives the organization unprecedented resilience and allows it to continue to nurture future generations of UK and international artists, develop new audiences and offer participation opportunities for local families. Gasworks’ redeveloped building opened to the public on 24 September 2015. Outset supported this capital campaign, resulting in the Outset Residency Studio.
The International Residency Programme was established in 1994 to support the development of emerging non-UK-based artists offering them a 3-month residency in London and the opportunity to research and make new work inspired by the local artistic community and in a supportive environment.
Each year Gasworks provides 16 international artists with a studio in a building that houses a total of 11 studios (7 rented to London-based artists and 4 reserved for the Residency Programme), a gallery and an education space for talks, workshops and other public events.
Residencies are generally non-prescriptive and process-based. They encourage artists to use their time in London to benefit from the resources that the city offers, from public libraries and archives to other arts institutions. At the same time, visiting artists work within a small community of artists and Gasworks provides opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with peers, arts professionals and the wider artistic community.
While the Residency Programme aims to facilitate research and the production of new work, it also includes a diverse range of talks, presentations, performances and open studios that help disseminate the work of visiting artists to the public. Residency artists are encouraged to participate in an events programme that aims to disseminate and further contextualise their practice, encouraging dialogue with the public. Events may include talks, seminars, screenings, workshops and performances.
Open Studios weekend sessions are held quarterly, offering audiences the opportunity to visit the studios and hear about the research and work-in-progress the artists have been developing.
Over the years Gasworks has developed a number of multi-year partnerships with prestigious international institutional and private funders. These include ARKO (Arts Council of Korea), Creative India, IASPIS (Sweden), Goethe Institute (Germany), Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal), BECA AMA (Chile), Charles Wallace (India & Pakistan), British Council (India and Pakistan) and AC/E (Spain).
Some of the Gasworks alumni include: Subodh Ghupta (India), Song Dong (China); Tania Bruguera (Cuba); Andrew Esiebo (Nigeria); Renata Lucas (Brazil); Gabriel Sierra (Colombia), Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana) and many others.
