Archisle expands residence programme with two artists

Sunday 02 April 2017

For the first time since its launch, Archisle, the contemporary photography programme from the Société Jersiaise, is welcoming two photographers on the Island for a six-month residency.

Tanja Deman from Croatia and Jonny Briggs from London are the fourth and fifth artists to come to Jersey as part of Archisle's residence programme. They were picked out of 162 submissions sent from 24 countries.

Gareth Syvret, Archisle project leader, says: "We always try to diversify projects and never repeat ourselves. The innovation this year is that we will have two projects running in parallel for six months. Hearing what Jonny and Tanja have planned for their time in Jersey I have no doubt that the 2017 programme will be greater than the sum of its parts. It's really positive for the cultural scene in Jersey that the programme grows."

The two artists were awarded £10,000 for their residence which will be concluded with a two-person show at the CCA Galleries International in September. Over the next six months, both artists will also be delivering workshops to different audiences.

Born in Split, second largest city in Croatia, Tanja studied a Master of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Her work incorporates photography, collage, video and public art, as well as sociological research. She produces images that are "evocative meditations on urban space, landscape and human relationships with nature and reflect upon the dynamics hidden beneath the surface of built and natural environments." Her works have been shown at the Venice Biennial of Architecture, in Germany, South Africa, the Netherlands, Russia, Argentina and of course Croatia.

Jonny Briggs was born in London, where he also studied a MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art. He has already won several awards such as the Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4 News Sensation Winner and the 2014 Foam Talent and was the Workshop Artist in Residence at Tate Modern and Britain in 2015 - 2016. He describes his practice as "...a way to explore my relationship with deception, the constructed reality of the family, and question the boundaries between my parents and I, between child/adult, self/other, nature/culture, real/fake in an attempt to revive my unconditioned self."

Gareth Syvret explains: "There are three main emphases of the project, education, exhibition and commission of new work for the contemporary collection. The photographs propose a project, they live and work here for six months and during that time they collaborate and deliver workshops to a broad range of participants, in schools or arts organisation, but also to adults continuing their education. We hope that it's going to put Jersey on the map as a kind of creative proposition for artists and keep the Jersey community switched on to developments in the contemporary creation."

Tanja Deman will host the first workshop of this year's programme over the Easter holidays. From the 10 to the 14 April she will be at St. James Centre to lead the Photoacademy for students between 13 and 17, in partnership with Youth Arts Jersey. 

Tanja Deman and Jonny Briggs's projects are number 4 and 5 of the international residence, launched in 2013 with funding from the One Foundation and the States of Jersey Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture Department. 

Deputy Murray Norton, assistant minister with responsibility for culture, said: "EDTSC is delighted to support the outstanding work of the Archisle project. It's a really exciting prospect that two professional photographers, with widely different background and interests, will be working in the community and also producing work which will enhance the Island's photographic archive. Already it promises to be one of the cultural highlights of 2017." 

Last month, Archisle also welcomed Australian photographer Clare Rae who came over to Jersey to look into the Claude Cahun's archive held by Jersey Heritage. Impressed by Jersey's northern coastline and the various dolmens, she took photographs outdoors for the first time. The body of work she produced during the month she spent on the Island will be shown next year in Melbourne.