MEXICAN ‘FIRST FOOD RESIDENCY’ BEGINS IN OXFORD

 

 

 

OXFORD, Reino Unido, 28th mayo 2015.- As part of the cultural programme of the Year of Mexico in the UK, this week began the ‘First Food Residency’ through which seven young Mexican artists will participate in creative projects linked to the importance of British food products such as wheat, milk and honey.

 

Over a span of seven weeks -culminating on 15th July- the young artists whose work ranges from traditional fresco and textile printing to dance/ performance, metal work and digital mapping will use different materials and methods to express their views in an autonomous creative process but as an integrated team.

 

These artists were selected from an open call, responding to the idea of 'first foods' in the UK, the selected artists are:

 

Artists include:

 

Mario Castellanos - Metal work and sculpture

 

Sofia Galindo - Dance

 

Jesus Gonzalez Gutierrez - Fresco painting

 

Marcos Hiram Rojas Sosa - Digital imaging and mapping

 

Israel de la Paz - printing

 

Polina Porras Sivolobova - performance

 

Roque Reyes Mendoza - painting and installation

 

On Saturday 23rd May, these young people took part in a welcoming ceremony at the Jericho Art Gallery in Oxford with the presence of its director, Jenny Blyth; the artist residency coordinator Antonia Bruce and representatives of the Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom. Mexican artists will perform their work in The Owl Barn, owned by the textile designer Vanessa Arbuthnott.

 

The focus of the ‘First Food” residency’ is to develop a creative dialogue between the two countries. The residency began in 2014 with five UK artists travelling to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, Mexico where they worked at Centro de las Artes San Agustin (CaSa). Oaxaca was chosen because it was the birthplace of maize as a domestic crop. Over seven weeks, the artists studied crops such as maize, amaranth, beans, and squash that make up the traditional 'milpa' system in Mexico; and talked to scientists, directors of seed banks, charities working with malnutrition and GM campaigners.

 

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