THIS BOOK IS YOURS: RECIPES FOR ARTISTIC COLLABORATION

In a house where several people live and work together, the center is the kitchen: the meeting point for informal exchanges. This was also the case at the Arc artists’ residence in Romainmôtier: the kitchen was the beating heart of the institution. It was a place where artists met when they took a break from their research, where they cooked and ate together, where other guests came. This book is inspired by the kitchen, its conviviality, the exchange of food and knowledge, the experiences that took place there.

This book covers a four-year period in the life of the Arc Artist Residency – an institution of the Migros Culture Percentage – from January 2015 to December 2018 under the direction of Sally De Kunst. During this time, Arc never stopped reinventing itself by constantly questioning the residency as an art institution from within and without, challenging values, experimenting with new ways of working together, and questioning socio-cultural ecology. Arc was more than just a chronology of artists in residence, projects or research paths. It was a breathing organization, an experience of living and working together, a plural community of practice created by artists, experts and other guests, an ecosystem in which sharing research was integral to the research itself. With this book, we would like to bring the experiences and insights gained during this period to a wider audience.

Cette publication est un manuel de collaboration artistique. It is neither a retrospective of Arc nor a documentation of the artistic projects that took place there. Rather, it is a tool and inspiration for reimagining your own practice and your own life.