— MEDIA ART FRIESLAND (MAF) in Leeuwarden and INTERFERENCE (IT) in Tunis are two organizations that promote and propel the production and promotion of media art as an innovative force in communities. Both communities feature light and light-based media art in public space, both organizations have a strong focus on emerging artists and on facilitating reflection, research and making.
Since 2016, IT and MAF have informally started cooperating, from exchanging concepts and ideas to exchanging artists, producers, and makers. Step by step, the bonds grew from informal encounters and incidental projects in Tunis and in Leeuwarden, towards a range of projects and activities that currently give shape to the cooperation. The communal projects and project that we open to each other’s teams and makers can be summarized as:
THEME NIGHTS (since 2016)
The are programm sections during our festivals that bring together makers, scientists, experts from other sectors and last but not the least the public for presentations, discussions and often performative research of current issues.
ARTISTS’ EXCHANGE (since 2018)
Both communities feature light and light-based media artists in their exhibition programs and profit from peer recommendations, shared scouting and evaluation. Especially in light and media arts, which is a niche discipline wherever it is based, international dissemination is very relevant as the international field of media arts is the market for these makers that have various artistic backgrounds ranging from design, autonomous digital arts, audiovisual disciplines and performance.
YOUNG MASTERS (since 2019)
Both organisations care with dedicated programs for emerging artists, curators, producers, art mediators, writers from Tunisia and The Netherlands. They participate in coaching trajectories that usually last between 3 to 6 months and result in presentations at the festivals in both countries. Through enabling young creatives to work and present in the partners’ country, they gain experience in producing in an international context, they build professional networks.
TEXT ME (since 2019)
Emerging curators and writers gather in the slipstream of the festivals. They participate in programs including lectures, exercises, and shared visits revolving around the programme of the host festival, enriched by exhibition and studio visits in the wider region of the festival. Consequently the participants produce a reflective text about one chosen artwork. The texts are compiled in publications that are disseminated via the media of both organisations and shared with relevant partners like other festivals and international arts and design institutes.
MAKERS (since 2019)
Even though the two organisations operate independently in their communities, the daily issues we confronted with are very much alike – despite the entirely different geographic, cultural, religious, climatic and political environments. Team members of SD and MAF merge easily into one productive organism wherever they operate and are very welcome supporters in the realisation of the programmes in Tunisia and The Netherlands.
INTERFERNCE and MEDIA ART FRIESLAND grew like siblings over the past six years, at times consciously, often also unintendedly, based on a profound shared interest in digital arts and design, but most of all because of a strong shared conviction that digital arts, design, architecture, performance and other artistic disciplines can play a vital role in building communities.
We share the urge to contribute to shaping our environment and take on an active position in the discourse about current issues, verbally and productive – always approached from artistic points of view, always searching for new perspectives, never afraid of experimentation and possible failure, and alive and making after challenging years.
LINK
MEDIA ART FRIESLAND
FEATURED IMAGE
MAF YOUNG MASTERS c/o INTERFERENCE Tunis 2022. Photo Gabe Kamphuis.