1 September – 1 October 2018 | 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore
The NEXT-STEP Residency Programme provided a platform for five emerging artists to work at 1Shanthiroad’s studios for four weeks, and produce work that culminates into an open studio or final exhibition at the end of the residency. 1Shanthiroad invited applications from young emerging artists working in and across the following disciplines of New Media: Photography, Film & Video, Animation, Light and Projection, Media Arts, Music & Sound and Technology
Through peer exchange, mentorship with the in-house team and artists and engagement with the local art community through workshops, talks and studio visits, the NEXT-STEP Residency Programme tried to provide the artists with an environment conducive for bridging the gap between the early stages of their education and their career beginnings.
Six artists were selected from across the country. Namely: Janhavi Khemka, Muskaan Singh, Mustafa Khanbhai, Mariraj Rajasekaran, Nilanjan Das and Sitikanta Samantsinghar. The artists were chosen by a jury of four artists and art practitioners based in Bangalore. The jury included Clare Arni, Ravikumar Kashi, Aastha Chauhan and Suresh Jayaram.
The six selected artists arrived at 1Shanthiroad studios on the 31st of August, 2018 and the first week was spent getting acquainted with the space, our staff and to each other. During the first week, we had a showing of each other’s art practices so everybody could begin engaging with each other’s works. Following this, we arranged studio visits at Ravikumar Kashi’s studio and Shanthamani Muddaiah’s studio respectively. This was met with great responses as all the six young artists were able to see in person the workings and the makings of senior artists’ works. At the studio visits, the senior artists talked about their practices extensively. Both Ravikumar Kashi and Shanthamani are known to work with materials, so it was a very enriching experience for all of them.
During the visits the artists were able to share more about their own work as well. Following several visits around the city, the artists started to mould their ideas connected to the city and over the course of the first two weeks, their ideas changed and got morphed into new ideas in comparison to their original proposed plans. They were also able to have several discussions and interactions with members of the Bangalore art community. Every week, in the course of a month, there were feedback sessions to discuss their plans and all the artists were able to provide feedback to one another. During the entire residency, the artists were mentored by Suresh Jayaram and team, introduced to local materials and exposed to the social and political context of Bangalore.
1Shanthiroad studio/Gallery 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore, is an art space founded by Suresh Jayaram that nurtures creativity and cutting-edge art practice. The studio/gallery provides space for slide lectures, small conferences, installations, performances, screenings and informal gatherings. It is administered by a not-for-profit trust, VAC–Visual Art Collective. Since its inception in 2003, 1Shanthiroad has grown to house artists from diverse countries in its residency programmes.