The Australia Council for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts are pleased to congratulate the three recipients of Digital Diasporas, a new online research residency delivered in partnership with China Residencies: Amy Lam (Canada), Casey Tang (USA) and Tian Zhang (Australia). 

The recipients will be hosted by three leading cultural organisations across China, Australia and Canada and will each be awarded AUD $10,000 to support intercultural and cross-border research and development during the residency period in late 2021.   

Digital Diasporas supports international peer-to-peer co-learning and mentoring for experimental artists and curators working across art forms, who identify with the Chinese diaspora.  

The program is delivered as a fully online experience responsive to the current travel restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The residencies are hosted by cultural organisations that are leading the way in digital and/or diaspora-led programming.  

Residents will primarily work with one host organisation to research themes such as diasporic cultures and spaces, flows of people, goods and capital, alternative community and kin-making, digital cultures, media arts, philosophies of technology and place-making—and any intersections of these.  

The funding partners are supporting three host organisations to design a program of remote/online mentoring, networking, research and development for the resident they host, while the group will also come together for online convenings. 

The residency host organisations are:   

• Chronus Art Center (Shanghai)   
• 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Sydney)   
• Gendai (Toronto)   

The Australia Council’s Head of Industry Development, Jade Lillie said:  

“The partnership would contribute invaluable knowledge to a world-wide and ever-expanding exploration of the opportunities and possibilities for collaboration and exchange offered by the digital residency experience. Digital Diasporas explores how the concept of international mobility is expanding, embracing new technologies and digital platforms. Even at this time of disruption, artists continue to work across borders.”   

“We are pleased to deliver this in partnership with the Canada Council, in a context of global recovery, that requires joint contributions to the rebuilding of a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive arts and cultural ecologies. It is vital that the international profile of arts, culture and creativity represents the cultural diversity and complexity of contemporary Australia, and contemporary Canada.” 

Sylvain Cornuau, Head, International Coordination, Cultural Diplomacy and Partnerships said:  

‘’We are proud to partner with Australia Council for the Arts on this innovative residency project that explores diasporic cultures and spaces through the lens of innovation and openness. While we are still under various constraints, the circulation of ideas and collaborative exchanges remain critical for artists across borders. We hope that Digital Diasporas will contribute to nurture important global conversations at the intersections of cultures.’’  

Digital Diasporas is supported in the context of a partnership between the Australia Council for the Arts and Canada Council for the Arts, aiming to share policies, research and knowledge, and to facilitate collaborations and reciprocal exchanges between organizations and artists of both countries.  

Digital Diasporas is jointly funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, administered by the Australian Embassy, Beijing.  

About the Canada Council for the Arts  

The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” It contributes to the vibrancy of a creative, open, diverse, and Indigenous-inclusive arts and literary scene and to its presence across Canada and abroad. Its international initiatives foster dialogue and reciprocity and contribute to the vitality of cultural diplomacy.  

About the Australia Council for the Arts  

The Australia Council is the Australian Government’s principal arts funding and advisory body. Our purpose is to champion and invest in Australian arts and creativity. We advocate for the social, cultural and economic value of the arts and creativity. We provide advice to government on matters connected with the arts.

Visit China Residencies website to learn more about this initiative.