”A digital residency may seem both abstract and concrete. With a width, freedom and accessibility that also can be challenging. It is free from the restrictions of a physical place, existing online, producing and expressing content for an invisible audiece that can be whereever, whenever and in all possible ways. This can feel unreal. The sentiment of being visible but not able to meet. Whereas the art makes it concrete.”
Eight artists contributed to DiGiRES, a project that was granted funding from Culture and art programme in 2018. Two of them had their residencies at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet in Skärhamn, Sweden. The others participated on distance from Russia, Belarus, Egypt, Iceland and Norway. They were connected by the digital platform Liquid Fiction.
The mission was to investigate whether a digital residency can work and to develop the digital form of residency as well as both content and pedagogical tools in connection to it. The participating artists agreed on that digital residencies are interesting and sustainable possibilities for developing the online art field.
The project DiGiRES searched also for new methods and tools for digital art pedagogy, dissemination and interaction with both visitors and audiences without the restrictions connected to a physical space. The experience from the project contributes to further development of competencies in digital interaction. A tutorial for knowledgebased research on olineproduced art will also be created based on the results of the project.