An annual programme aiming to support artists by providing them with the resources to establish peer mentoring groups.
Established by Artquest, PEER FORUM is an annual programme aiming to support artists by providing them with the funding, space and resources necessary to establish their own peer mentoring groups. As a host organisation, we provide support and create a space for artists to instigate dialogue and develop ideas and research.
The selected group for 2020 was led by artist Lea Collet who worked with Miriam Austin, Naz Balkaya, Harry Bix, Guendalina Cerruti, Rosa Doornenba, Roxman Gatt, Maria Gorodeckaya, Zaiba Jabbar, Natalia Januła, Lou-Atessa Marcellin, Eleni Papazoglou, Dylan Spencer-Davidson and Anna Souter.
Including visual artists, curators and writers, the group explored the importance of collective affection and how artists can organise, communicate, present themselves, and work towards social change by sharing a more personal and intimate voice through their work.
The sessions evolved from the group’s hybrid practices that intertwined writing, new forms of performance, object-making and digital work, all carried out by individuals or collectives online and IRL. Through a range of disciplines, they explored ideas of community, ecology, technology and agency, mutating through the spectrum of digital culture and corporate business models. Together they looked at forging new forms of connection from both behind and beyond the screen.
Through peer-led discussions, engaging with Camden Arts Centre’s exhibition programme and practical workshops that encourage collective thinking, the group considered PEER FORUM as an ecosystem of care with the potential for symbiosis.
