by Debra Spark, United States Writer-in-Residence, January 2020 Last January found me with a group of international artists in the small second-floor space of the Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Company, thinking about this very issue in the context (initially at least) not of the 2020s but the 1920s. We had all come to France for an artist residency/cultural exchange devoted to exploring the flowering of the arts in the 1920s and perhaps to recreating some of that same energy, 100 years later, as we were educated about the period. On this particular day, we were being reminded that the disaster of World War I radically changed art, because artists felt that the old way of narrating and depicting the world would no longer work. “Make it new,” as Ezra Pound famously said. The horror of the war, the fragmentation of everyday life, the mechanization of society, the sense of the world as irrational and absurd led to surrealism, cubism, and expressionism in visual art, and some of the same in literature (the automatic writing of Breton, the interest in dreams and surrealism), as well as a modernism that dispensed with the abstractions and flowery rhetoric of the Victorian era. Read the full article published by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs
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by Ed Bell, France/United Kingdom
Writer co-host, January 2020 Last night, I had the pleasure and privilege of taking part in a virtual salon organised by Deanna Galati and Mayumi Lashbrook, two amazing creative performers from l’AiR Arts. This is an artists’ residency that myself and other representatives of Paris Lit Up collaborated with in January – three weeks of workshops, museums, walking tours, restaurants, experiences and that most beloved of elixirs – conversation. ... [The Salon] was a true moment of appreciation, because we were not only heard, but actively listened to, and this is when the strongest links are formed. It was incredible to share, but it was sublime to observe. Read the full post on Ed's blog by Mayumi Lashbrook, Canada Dancer-in-Residence, January 2020
Read the full 5-part reflection piece in which Mayumi shares what she learned, what inspired her the most, many practical takeaways, and much more!
by Shireen Ikramullah, Pakistan / Netherlands
Artist-in-Residence, January 2020 In the face of the coronavirus crisis, L’AiR Arts in Paris has created a mission to encourage all artists on their network to keep working even in isolation and to feel connected as an art community... ...By creating a collective series called ‘Arts Lair’ (Art in time of pandemic) each artist has been brought together through their reflections from their separate art lairs. A noteworthy play of words, the name L’AiR Arts itself is directly connected to the word ‘LAIR’ more specifically an artist’s refuge or sanctuary where the artist lives, works and cultivates innovative ideas. The idea behind Arts Lair is a shared voice centring on intercultural correspondence in a communal spirit even in quarantine. Read the full article in FAD Magazine View the series on L'AiR Arts Instagram by the Paris Lit Up team
Residency co-hosts, January 2020 As part of the international multidisciplinary residency, Paris Lit Up was invited to co-host a music and literature salon, featuring writers from the residency and local musicians. We saw a variety of performances from the residents, many of whom chose to perform together, having become close friends over the past few weeks. Their warmth and mutual support was contagious. In keeping with the 1920s spirit, we ran late, danced and demanded endless encores before finally being ushered out onto Paris’ streets to find our way who knows where... Read the full post on Paris Lit Up blog |
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April 2024
CategoriesCover Image: L'AiR Arts residents, Multidisciplinary Program, January 2020
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