Art Articles & Reviews

} Canadians at the Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea Quatra Edizione, 2003, Part III of III. By Mary-Lou Ashton In this final part, I will try to provide information for anyone interested in participating in the 2005, Florence Biennale. As a reminder, participation is by invitation. In order for the International Scientific Committee, i.e. the selection committee, you need to have a website or be a member of a website where your work may be seen. Ancient Statuary in the Palazzo Vecchio: courtesy Mary-Lou Ashton Some words of advice: 1. Your intentions and expectations: "decide WHY you are going. Do not go with the impression you will receive a medal or sell. Go for the experience of the city, the art and the people and you won't be disappointed .... you'll also have a positive experience. Stay at the site often enough to meet people but not so long that you miss seeing the ART in Florence !!!, Fiesole, Siena or Pisa" - Carol Taylor; "As soon as I saw the space and realized how many artists were involved, I realized it was just a huge art fair. I didn't mind and just had a lot of fun" - Susan Strachan Johnson; "I would, however, encourage someone looking for their first shot at international exposure to accept, if invited. The jury is made up of some very impressive names, and the opportunity to show your work to such prominent art critics all in one place is a rare and valuable opportunity." - Gordon Becker. Do not expect to make contracts. If the galleries do not come to the show and if you want international contracts, contact the galleries: "on my own, I secured a gallery interested in carrying my work" - Jane Saborio; The Florence Biennale seems to be not recognised by the media or by the art community in Florence: "NOT one of the Canadian art magazines will cover the Biennale as a serious art show" - Carole Taylor; "have searched through endless art magazines in my region of France and have not come upon one article" - Wally Ballach; "would introduce myself as a participant of the Biennale but quickly learned to change my tact as the uniform result would be a rolling of the eyes and a quick dismissal." - Stéphanie Bush. However, rewards may arise after the event as several artists are involved with organising group shows or have been invited to other exhibitions: "received confirmation of formal invitation by Prof Matty Roca, Art Critic and Historian in Mexico, to participate at 3 Art Exhibitions in Mexico starting July 2004 for a period of 6 months. This opportunity now opens the untapped South American Market" e -Antoine Gaber; Award winning painting by Stéphanie Bush; courtesy the artist; www.stephaniebushart.com The Florence Biennale is young compared to the established international art exhibitions and needs more time to be accepted by the local and the international community. 2. Financial: The total estimates for the show when a shipper was used was $10,000 to $18,000. With economy situations such as taking your own work, economy accommodations, eating at corner bars or from mini-markets and rotisserie take out, costs can be reduced to about $6000.00. Apply for grants but don't expect to receive. Look for support from private donors. Apply to your provincial arts and / or crafts council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Visual Arts Ontario publishes a list of public and private agencies that provide funding for artists. Cities such as Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Surrey, Toronto, Vancouver, have funding programs for artists, and some universities as well such as Wilfred Laurier University. Check out the funding link at www.artistsincanada.com for a list of 36 opportunities. Two more sources are CAM Internet www.cam.org, and ITAC, www.itac.ca and follow the link to "it and art" for two grants: international career development and international arts events such as a biennale. No time to go to Rome to see the Coliseum: Fiesole is an half hour local bus ride from Florence where one can visit Etruscan tombs and the ruins of a Roman theatre, bath, and temple: courtesy Mary-Lou Ashton 3. Shipping: Take your work with you if possible. Many artists took canvases off stretchers, rolled the work and re-stretched the paintings prior to the show. Other artists had "luggage- crates" made for their work and paid an extra air fare. Do the temporary importation documentation yourself. The Ata Carnet forms are available through the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC). Cost was $120 plus a bond of 40% of the value of the work. The bond is refunded when the completed Carnet is return to the CCC. Should you sell your work, the bond is used to pay foreign taxes and duties. For more information, and new updated forms and fee schedule consult www.chamber.ca/carnet. AY38 - form from Canada Customs also provides documentation that the artwork is your personal property. Note: the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) has new names: the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the customs program is now part of the new Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which is part of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca. Florence does not accommodate international flights but one can make a connecting flight from another European city such as Milan or Paris and ultimately clear customs in Florence. From personal experience, when leaving, an Italian customs agent on duty in the Florence airport-departures for the purpose of stamping V.A.T. refund forms, is qualified to process an Ata Carnet. Although this exhibition is intended as show only, some artists sell their work (from Arte Studio). One Canadian artist procured a V.A.T. number but found it was not necessary for the biennale. You should be aware of Canadian export procedures, and Italian import procedures. Arte Studio recommends a shipper who will also hang your work as well if you cannot go yourself and do not wish to hang it. However if you intend to be at the exhibition and can hang you own work but need to ship it, it might be preferable to arrange your own shipper: "discovery was (the designated shipper) does not have a good reputation, so we chose another shipper with whom we are very satisfied" - Gordon Becker; Be sure that the shipper you chose conforms to Italian regulations about temporary importation of art: "heard horror stories from artists who did not have their work passed thru customs in Italy and missed the show" - Ken Curley; Many who used the designated shipper were less than pleased with their performance, such as: damaged crates (Gordon Becker and Barbara Mercer) replacement crates an extra charge and unmanageable (Barbara Mercer) crates left on the exhibition floor but unopened (Ken Curley) artwork damaged (Gordon Becker) badly hung paintings (Stéphanie Bush) and also, art sent back to the wrong person (Lilian Broca) Others, however, had no difficulties. 4. If possible, plan to be at the exhibition: The artist's presence is not demanded by the organisers; some artists shipped their work but did not go themselves. Engage in the camaraderie of other artists. If you are budgeting time, there is enough to see the show, meet other artists, and take in the sights. Take time to visit Florence and the surrounding country. Many artists stayed with their work for the whole show. Some, like Shahnaz and myself, spent our time touring and perhaps missed the best part of the exhibition: getting to know other artists. 5. Consider the resume: "an international event is an important part of an artist's C.V. The biennial and the organization is very young and has the potential to be significant." - Kent Senecal Antoine Gaber winner of the President's award for Career Recognition, 2003, holding his Lorenzo Il Magnifico award; courtesy Antoine Gaber: www.antoinegaber.com In the words of Antoine Gaber, One of the most valuable experience, is the fact that we all got to know so many different artists from around the world including our Canadian Team, but also formed a real bonding and created some future working opportunities within our own Canadian group. Furthermore, it allowed us to open our minds to new visions within the art world, its interpretations and the opportunities to open our horizons. I could only say that it has been a delight to experience and live such an event overall, with its pros and cons, but when considering the size of the event, the logistics, and the languages challenges, I consider that it was overall a very successful meeting. The proof of that is that it surely opened the communications within our Canadian Team, which, I feel is already a living proof of its success. In conclusion, I would like to thank all those who took the time and effort to respond to my requests for "your impressions about the Florence Biennale": you made these articles possible! For more information visit www.florencebiennale.org or www.artestudio.net. ___________________________________________ Addendum For those of you unaware, two more sources of information are the Cultural Human Resource Council (CHRC)/ Le Conseil des Ressources Humaines du Secteur Culturel (CRHSC) and Carfac Canadian Artists Representation/front des artistes canadiens. CHRC/CRHSC is a non-profit national organisation whose members include self-employed artists, cultural workers and arts organisations from many disciplines and cultural industries including Live Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Film, Writing & Publishing, New Media, and more. It was created in 1995 to promote the Canadian cultural workforce and is supported by Human Resources Skills Development Canada. CHRC is offering information workshops on Export Marketing of Cultural Products and Services (until June 2004 only) as well as HR tools for artists and cultural workers. Individual membership is free or an enhanced Individual membership is available for a nominal annual fee. Visit their website at www.culturalhrc.ca. CARFAC is "artists working for artists". Throughout Canada there are regional affiliates. Membership in the regional organisations such as CARFAC-Ontario becomes membership in the national CARFAC. This association of professional artists works to uphold and strengthen the rights of the visual artist and it is the only organisation under Status of the Artist legislation recognised to serve and represent visual artists in Canada. Among a number of membership benefits are an international artist card and certificates of Canadian origin both of which are useful to artists wishing to exhibit internationally. Visit the national website at www.carfac.ca. ___________________________________________ Copyright © 2004 Mary-Lou Ashton View Mary-Lou's artwork on her website: www.artistsincanada.com/mashton.