Sister City Artist Residency Program (SCAR Program)
The Sister City Artist Residency Program (SCAR Program) is a new platform which supports professional development and cultural exchange for artists currently based in Brisbane and Chongqing. This is collaborative project between Vegas Spray and 501 Artspace, supported by Arts Queensland and The Australia Council for the Arts.
The 2005 Asia Pacific Cities Summit hosted by Chongqing, People’s Republic of China, saw the signing of the Brisbane-Chongqing Sister City Agreement.
The agreement allows exchanges and cooperation in fields such as:
- science
- technology
- culture
- sports
- health
- education
- agriculture
- tourism
Within the Sister-City context, the SCAR Program provides a residency platform between Chongqing and Brisbane for recent fine art graduates. The purpose of the program is to develop meaningful networks and relationships between the art sectors of the two sister-cities and support local artists with a significant opportunity to develop their arts practice.
Chongqing is located in Southwest China and is one of the five national central cities in the People’s Republic of China. It is the largest direct-controlled municipality, and comprises of 19 districts, 15 counties, and 4 autonomous counties. Chongqing has a significant history and culture and serves as the economic centre of the upstream Yangtze basin. It is a major manufacturing centre and transportation hub and in July 2012 was named as one of the 13 emerging megacities in China.
Selected SCAR Program artists will be situated at 501 Artspace in Chongqing. 501 Artspace was founded in 2006 and is located in Huang Jue Ping, Chongqing’s art district. Covering over 10,200 square meters, the old warehouse was converted into 800 square meters of a public exhibition hall, 180 square meters of an artist studios and an artist reception room. 501 Artspace currently hosts, 75 artists, 65 artist studios and two independent arts organisations.
Click to view some of 501 Artspace’s projects
2013 SCAR Program Residents (Brisbane)
2013 SCAR Program Residents (Chongqing)
Zheng Jing
Wu Peng
Wu Shuang