Venice Art Biennale - 'a space' fellowship artists announced

Posted: 01/03/2019

British Council Venice Fellowship Artists Confirmed

‘a space’ arts is excited to confirm that artists Asten Holmes-Elliott, Laurence Dubé-Rushby and Claudia Friend have been selected to attend the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia by the British Council.

The three artists, who applied at the end of last year following an open call, were part of a shortlist of six from the Southampton area to be interviewed by the British Council.

The opportunity will see all three awarded with a bursary funded by ‘a space’ arts as part of a new partnership with the British Council. This will be used to support travel to Venice where they will spend a month at the British Pavilion, conducting independent research and mediating the exhibition, Cathy Wilkes, curated by Dr Zoe Whitley.

Asten, Laurence and Claudia have this week undertaken two days of training with the British Council to develop proposals for the creative projects they’ll work on while in Venice.

They will work alongside Fellows from across the U.K., with a number of other arts organisations including New Contemporaries, Wysing Arts Centre, Golden Thread Gallery, Firstsite, Kettle’s Yard, Bristol Museum and Gallery, Nottingham Contemporary and South London Gallery also sponsoring similar opportunities.

Genevieve Marciniak, Venice Fellowships Programme Manager, British Council, said:

“The Venice Fellowships programme is a fantastic international experience for students, graduates, early-career artists and cultural professionals – with bespoke training in London, skills development opportunities at the British Pavilion, and a chance to expand networks across the UK and internationally. For the British Council, it is very important to support emerging artists, architects, curators and researchers – and to place informed mediators at the heart of the British Pavilion.”