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$43k grant for Richmond Art Gallery’s overseas artist exchange

The money will go towards the gallery’s Pacific Crossings program.
Richmond Art Gallery
Richmond artist Pierre Vassura evokes classic literature including the Decameron, Dante’s Divine Comedy and Aesop’s Fables, as well as referencing the Tarot and stories from The Bible.

The province has given the Richmond Art Gallery Association another grant to bring in visiting curators from Asia and set up overseas work opportunities for local artist.

The $43,000 comes from the International Presence program, a provincial government scheme to give B.C. artists more international exposure.

It will go to Pacific Crossings, a program headed by the Richmond Art Gallery in cooperation with two galleries in Vancouver. The new money will be used to invite two visiting curators from China and Taiwan and set up residencies for local artists to work in Japan and the Philippines.

“Richmond is such a global city. And my vision is really for the art gallery to also be this kind of global hub for art,” said Shaun Dacey, Richmond Art Gallery director.

Earlier this year, the first iteration of Pacific Crossings brought Nozomu Ogawa of Japan’s Art Centre Ongoing in Tokyo. He met with local artists and hosted two public talks in Richmond and Vancouver.

Now, with the follow-up grant, Dacey said the gallery will select a local to complete a month-long art residency with Ogawa in Japan.  

In May and June, members of the collective Laod Na Dito from the Philippines will visit Richmond. Afterwards, a residency for a local will also be set up in that country.

The overarching goal is to develop long-term partnerships for B.C. artists to present their work overseas.

These visits also serve as professional development for Lower Mainland art galleries, Dacey said. They can share insights with overseas curators to see what techniques are working well in Asia.

“We should be more connected and want to create more partnerships, exchange and crossover between Vancouver and across Pacific Rim,” Dacey said.

Five other arts organizations received grants alongside the Richmond Art Gallery to help B.C. artists attend international arts festivals and fund other exchange programs.