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Erdem Taşdelen Receives 2019 Sobey Residencies Award
Posted on September 20, 2019 | Updated September 20, 2019, 9:40am
The ECU alum is one of three Canadian artists to be awarded a prestigious international residency.
Interdisciplinary artist Erdem Taşdelen (MFA, 2010) was announced Wednesday as one of three Canadians artists who will take part in the 2019 Sobey Art Award Residencies Program (SAARP).
Erdem will spend three months in residence at the Delfina Foundation — a London, UK-based independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and developing creative practice through residencies, partnerships and public programming. The other two winners — Marie-Michelle Deschamps and Logan MacDonald — will be in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York, and Berlin’s Künstlerhaus Bethanien, respectively.
“SAARP's collaboration with three of the most respected and competitive residency programs in the world is an impressive commitment to the work of emerging Canadian artists,” Erdem said in a statement.
“Once artists complete their formal training it can be difficult to find situations where they can engage in in-depth conversations about their work with the same group of people over a period of time; residencies can offer this important opportunity.”
Erdem, along with Marie-Michelle and Logan, was selected by the Sobey Art Award jury from the Sobey Art Award long-list of nominees. The Sobey Art Award is considered the preeminent honour for young and emerging Canadian artists, with a top prize of $100,000 going annually to one artist under 40 years of age.
Sobey’s residencies program supports Canadian artists as they move to the next phase of their careers by providing time, space and facilities to create new work and conduct research for future projects. The artists taking part in the program will be introduced to international arts communities, allowing them to connect with artists, curators, and organizations outside their existing network.
The Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada created the annual residency program in 2018 to offer additional support for young artists, and to raise the profile of contemporary Canadian art and artists around the world. The total annual value of the program is approximately $75,000 CAD, and includes funds for travel, living expenses, and materials.
In addition to the international residency program, an exhibition of works by the five 2019 Sobey Art Award shortlisted artists will be presented at the Art Gallery of Alberta from October 5, 2019 to January 5, 2020.
The winner of the 2019 Sobey Art Award grand prize of $100,000 will be revealed at a gala event at the Art Gallery of Alberta on November 15, 2019. One of the remaining finalists will be selected to attend the 2019 Fogo Island Arts' international residency program. That announcement will be made at the end of November.
