VISART CENTRAL ASIA

Since 2005, CEC ArtsLink has been orchestrating two-way exchanges focused on visual arts, contemporary music and arts management between the US and the countries of Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. These programs draw on decades of in-house experience organizing arts exchanges in the countries of the former Soviet Union and seek to impact both artists and their communities in sustainable ways. Projects have involved successful partnerships with the New York City based contemporary music organization Bang on a Can, the Vermont Studio Center, and many individual US artists and arts specialists who have conducted lectures and performances of their work, public art workshops, training seminars and other collaborations in Central Asia. CEC ArtsLink has also brought Central Asian artists, musicians and arts specialists to the US for short residencies to collaborate and exchange information with their colleagues, arts organizations and festivals. In 2009, CEC ArtsLink, with the support of the Christensen Foundation, launched the Global Art Lab. This endeavor brings US artists working in the area of Social Practice art together with Central Asian artists and arts managers to design and conduct creative projects in communities in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These projects, aimed at encouraging engagement and accountability between the audience and artists, both bring ideas and concepts to local artists and reach out to individuals in the community, who may have previously had no relationship to contemporary art.