Edinburgh Printmakers and Flow India are delighted to launch a new creative fellowship developing art talent in Scotland and India as part of the British Council India /UK Together, Season of Culture. The programme marks India’s 75th anniversary of Independence and promotes opportunities to co-develop cross-cultural creative collaborations, skills and knowledge exchange and new artistic work.
20 young Fellows aged 19 – 26 from India and Scotland have been selected on the basis of their art and design experience and their interest in printmaking, digital innovation, sustainability and global equality. 10 Fellows are Scotland based and 10 based in India. Selected Fellows include artists, photographers, designers, illustrators, art historians, and recent graduates from a range of different disciplines.
The project entitled Future Flow weaves in skills development including co-design and exhibition curation, arts project management and collaborative working and will run from June 2022 to March 2023. Future Flow will connect the selected Fellows online and will be supported by a series of online workshops to shape the curatorial framework for a public programme. Each workshop will be led by experienced arts managers, academics or curators working with a facilitator able to support co-curated design processes.
Taking as its starting point India and Scotland's relationship in the 19th and 20th centuries and reflecting on the industrial journeys from Castle Mills, Edinburgh Printmakers' industrial home, the Fellows will develop a curatorial premise reflecting on the relationships between the two countries. In realising this curatorial vision the Fellows will then shape and develop an exhibition through commissioning up to 7 artists and curating the work they produce in a series of exhibitions in Ahmedabad and New Delhi in March 2023.
The 20 Fellows are:
Aadithya S | Ailsa Fraser | Amogh Bhatnagar | Ananya Gautam | Anchit | Arjun Yadav | Bekah-Joy Kerr | Drew Moody | Eichha Singh | Ellie Moffat | Ezra Berrnico | Grace Sutermeister | Jithindas K | Joshua al-Najar | Kashish Kochhar | Natasha Thomas | Nava Rizvi | Shivani Shankar | Sofia Cotrona | Vrushali Mehta
Speaking at the launch of the project Edinburgh Printmakers CEO Janet Archer said:
"Future Flow is an exciting learning opportunity for young adults interested in curating and producing art exhibitions, supported by established professionals working in the visual arts, printmaking and cultural management.
In a world that is changing rapidly, this is an important moment for a global conversation inspired and led by young people.Future Flow will address issues around environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion as the Fellows develop their curatorial vision for events and exhibitions next year. The project will explore the intersection of arts and heritage in times of change, starting from the premise that to influence our future, we need to comprehend our present, and understand our past."
Arundhati Mitter Director of Flow India said:
"In selecting the Fellows for the programme we were impressed by the thoughtfulness and ambition of this generation of future art professionals. We are incredibly excited to see where this journey takes them and are looking forward to their group exhibition planned to take place in India next year. The project is an opportunity to debate issues that divide us, discover ideas that connect us and give voice and shape to our personal and collective identities."
Future Flow has been developed by Edinburgh Printmakers and Flow India working with the National Institute of Design, India, Edinburgh College of Art and the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, Queen Margaret University, and National Museums Scotland. The project is supported by the British Council and is part of the India/UK Together, Season of Culture.
