For the second edition of the ON/OFF project we invited new mentors of the online residency, as well as continued working with those who have already been involved in collaboration with Russian-speaking artists. We believe that it makes sense to divide the online residency participants into those who continue the collaborative work which they started in the first edition, and those who should try their hand at collaborative work with Swiss mentors for the first time. For us it’s important to create connections that will be sustainable even outside of the ON/OFF project. The artistic projects developed in the residency were connected to the exile, migration experience, the impact of the political situation on the art. The aim of the residency was to give Swiss colleagues the opportunity to learn “first-hand” about the Russian artists, and to build a space for creative exchange and a direct dialogue on actual topics, regardless of the difficult political situation.
To continue developing the collaboration between Russian and Swiss art workers in October 2023-January 2024 we handled two rounds of an online-residency for the selected Russian dance/performance artists, working together in collaboration with Swiss curators, producers, artists, programmers. The aim of the residency was to enable Russian-speaking artists to interact with their colleagues from Switzerland, to help them to adapt their work to the European dance scene with the help of their colleagues, to create a space for artistic dialogue and exchange, to continue communication in the territory of art, to build a long lasting working binoms for future possible collaborations. Two two-week residencies included introduction of the participants, formulating of the ideas and their group work on the topic, proposed by the Russian speaking partner. Then on 22 January 2024 all participants’ online-meeting with presentation, conversation and pitching of the ideas took place.
