Courtesy of TV3News

Newsreader (Sarah Bradley):   Two Dunedin artists will soon find inspiration a long way from home as they take up artist residencies in Asia.   It's the first time New Zealanders have been sponsored to spend time in Asia.   They'll learn new techniques alongside Asian artists and be stimulated by a bustling foreign environment.

Image: Kelly Thompson and Simon Kaan - off to Asia with a smileCourtesy of TV3News

Newsreader (Sarah Bradley):   Two Dunedin artists will soon find inspiration a long way from home as they take up artist residencies in Asia.   It's the first time New Zealanders have been sponsored to spend time in Asia.   They'll learn new techniques alongside Asian artists and be stimulated by a bustling foreign environment.

Image: Kelly Thompson and Simon Kaan - off to Asia with a smileReporter (Natasha Utting):   From Dunedin to Beijing for painter Simon Kaan and for textile artist Kelly Thompson, it's Dunedin to New Delhi.   They are the first-ever Kiwi artists to win residencies in Asia thanks to the Asia 2000 Foundation and Creative New Zealand.

Elizabeth Kerr (Chief Executive, Creative New Zealand):   They'll have opportunities to work with Asian artists in those cultures and to share knowledge and experiences.   They'll have an opportunity to have time-out which a residency always provides.

Reporter:   Thompson will use her time at the Sanskriti Foundation of India to study Indian textiles.

Kelly Thompson (textile artist):   In particular, the way that they translate botanic imagery into their cloth.   And the residency will kind of give me time to sort of reflect on my practice and perhaps develop some new ideas and new directions with it.

Reporter:   The residencies are also a chance to foster links between the countries.

Op Jain (Director, Sanskriti Foundation):   Particularly the young people, they are involved with different kind of creative endeavours, should travel and should see the other cultures, other civilisations.

Reporter:   For Kaan, whose work is greatly influenced by his heritage, China provides a piece of the puzzle generations old.   It was the home of his grandparents.

Simon Kaan (visual artist):   It's going to be quite significant.   I'm not too sure what's going to come of it but it just feels like the right thing to do, to place myself there. Kind of like mulching grapes maybe; like getting your toes in and seeing what comes of it.

Reporter:   Kaan will be artist in residence at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing.   Both artists will have three months to make the most of their unusual postings.   Natasha Utting 3 news.

Creative New Zealand announcement

New Zealand artists Kelly Thompson and Simon Kaan will take up residencies in New Delhi and Beijing in what are the first artist residencies in Asia to be offered by Creative New Zealand, in partnership with the Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand.

Dunedin textile artist Kelly Thompson and senior lecturer at the School of Art at Otago Polytechnic will spend three months from late 2004 as artist-in-residence at the Sanskriti Foundation's Sanskriti Kendra campus on the outskirts of New Delhi.
And Simon Kaan, a Dunedin visual artist, will spend three months from October 2004 as artist-in-residence at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing.

Creative New Zealand will cover accommodation costs and provide $10,000 stipends while the artists are in residence. The Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand will meet the costs of the return airfares.

For both artists, the residencies offer a sustained period of time to review their practice, be stimulated by new environments and build networks with other artists.

"The residency will give me time away from my teaching responsibilities to reflect on my twenty-year practice," Thompson says. "I've always been interested in textiles from diverse cultures, and I'm particularly excited about the opportunity to research and extend my understanding of handloom woven textiles in India.

"My time spent in another culture will enable me to experiment with new ways of thinking and working. This will be reflected in the work that will result from the residency."

Thompson also met Mr O. P. Jain, the President of the Sanskriti Foundation, during his visit to New Zealand from 20 to 25 August. Mr Jain is a leading figure in India's arts and culture.

Last year, Simon Kaan travelled to China where he made contact with artists and art communities, including those at the Red Gate Gallery.

"I was the first of my family to return to China since my grandfather left more than one hundred years ago," he says. "My Chinese, Maori and Pakeha heritage is an integral part of my life. Because my work deals primarily with my culture and environment, my new work will inevitably reflect the impact of my time in Beijing.

"I'm sure the residency will provide me with an array of experiences that will feed into an interesting new body of work."

Alastair Carruthers, Chair of the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand, says the selected artists will be excellent ambassadors for New Zealand, responsive to their new environments and keen to make the most of the cultural and artistic opportunities.

"We welcome the support of the Asia 2000 Foundation as we explore opportunities for New Zealand artists to interact with Asian cultures and extend their practice, inspired by new and stimulating environments," Mr Carruthers says.

Christopher Butler, Executive Director of the Asia 2000 Foundation of New Zealand, says the Foundation was delighted to form a partnership with Creative New Zealand to support what are the first Creative New Zealand residencies available to New Zealand artists in the Asian region.

"We hope they're the first of many," he says. "These residencies promote cultural understanding, which underpins New Zealand's important relationships with the Asian region."