Resident Artist and Researcher Program values the rapprochement between artistic creation and academic research
Bring to the University knowledge and experiences that combine artistic creation and Latin American academic research. This is the objective of the Researcher and Artist in Residence Program, an initiative of the Directorate of Culture (DCult) of the Dean of Extension and Culture (Proec) at Unicamp. Throughout the year, the academic and external community will be able to participate in activities with 21 artist-researchers in the areas of music, dance, theater, literature, cooking, visual arts and manuals, audiovisual, among others. The program is the result of an agreement between Unicamp and Banco Santander.
Residents were selected in open calls for proposals in 2019 and 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, activities are being carried out throughout this year. The program aims to give visibility to research in the field of arts and emphasize its extension potential. Therefore, candidates needed to have a minimum master's degree and proposals must relate to their areas of research. All workshops, courses and lectures are open to the public outside Unicamp.
"The preference for Latin Americans is part of a policy of rapprochement with the continent's universities. Projects by these researchers and artists gained an extra point in the selection. We also prioritized African-American and Amerindian themes", explains Fábio Cerqueira, cultural producer at DCult .
The next activities, scheduled for the first week of June, will be led by Mexican writer Airy Sindik. He will present his book, No air for the return, and will give a creative writing workshop. Another 15 projects are planned for the second semester.
A new notice for the program will be released in the second semester. There will be nine scholarships aimed at Latin American artists. "The Directorate of Culture has just signed an agreement with the University of Arts of Cuba (ISA). We are going to begin an academic and artistic exchange between the two institutions. Therefore, two scholarships will be reserved for Cuban residents, to celebrate this partnership" , informs Carlos Machado Neto, general coordinator of Culture.
Colors of nature and Latin rhythms
Two recent workshops showed the plurality of residents' proposals. In April, Colombian artist Mariana Renthel developed the “Tons dados” project, which explored the use of pigments and binders of natural origin in graphic printing techniques. Mariana is a professor at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Antioquia, in Medellín. The meetings were held at the LabGravura of the Institute of Arts (IA) and at the “Fausto Castilho” Rare Works Library (Bora).
“I seek to show different possibilities around nature. Instead of being a theme of the works, I propose that it be the raw material of the artistic work”, explains Mariana. The activities involved the collection of natural materials (leaves, tree bark, flowers) for the production of pigments, later used to make engravings. Historical and cultural references to the use of natural materials by various people around the world were discussed, highlighting their relationship with geographic and cultural environments.
For Mariana, the work reminds artists of the importance of reflecting on the history of the production of graphic works. "I propose that students question artistic works regarding their ethical and ecological values. The use of products and materials in works considered to be of high quality is often related to the production of goods and the exploitation of natural resources", she reflects.
Another artist-researcher who was at the University was Verónica Navarro, with the project “Entredanças”, which explored intercultural dialogues between Brazil and Argentina. There was a workshop to experiment with Latin American rhythms and a conversation about research and scenic creation.
Verónica has studied the driving forces of dances, that is, the bodily elements that motivate movements. Working with Latin rhythms, she reflects on the similarities between dances from different regions, relating them to a common pre-colonial past. "We always adapt to new contexts. This includes the body and the way it expresses itself. That's what caught my attention in border dances. My body doesn't behave here like it does in Córdoba, for example."
Graduated in Social Service from the National University of Córdoba, Verónica has a master's degree in Dance and a PhD in Performing Arts from the Federal University of Bahia. His arrival in the country was inspired by his acquaintance with a Brazilian teacher. According to her, in Argentina there are few academic opportunities in the area. "The arts are very incipient in the field of research. Many methodologies come from the Social Sciences. New methods, specific to the arts, have only recently emerged. There is a lot of work to be done."
Regarding the challenge of reconciling artistic creation with academic work, she comments: "Few artistic activities are recognized as research. We don't fit into Lattes!" For her, universities are fundamental for artists on the continent. "In other places in the world, artists get incentives to work only with art, but in Latin America great artists are unable to support themselves. We still have difficulty seeing the arts as a field of work."
Verónica believes that opportunities such as the Resident Artist and Researcher Program contribute to the academic development of artistic knowledge and the legitimacy of popular arts. "There is a lot of work with popular culture done here at Unicamp. In other schools, this does not happen. It is not a topic covered by academia. While Europe managed to value its popular culture, in Latin America there is a separation between the erudite and the popular This is seen as something that will always exist and that is self-managed, but in fact there is a lack of development policies", he states.
See photos of the workshops:
