Abstract/Summary

Reading International is a contemporary art organisation located within the Reading School of Art at the University of Reading. It was founded and initiated in response to ongoing discussions with artists, academics, students and local arts organisations about how we might establish new models of working in education and to respond to the growing pressures experienced by all participants. At the same time it was an attempt to reflect on the existence of the art school within a regional environment and to explore its possibilities in connecting and engaging with the different rhythms of the local arts community, to interrelate and raise ambitions for its co-existence and future. We wanted to imagine the art school as a public arena, which opens its life beyond the academic community and actively engages with a wider public, involving artists, curators, students and community. What would a model for such a public space look like? What are the challenges? What is at stake in this collaborative effort? Over the last three years we have invited artists to respond to the specific social and historical framework offered by the art school and the town. We have promoted and commissioned solo exhibitions, group and thematic shows, a programme of events including performances, film screenings, workshops and talks as well as offsite projects and temporary public artworks. Our projects have been hosted and supported by a rich mixture of partners within the town, and we have produced several major projects each year, in which artists and curators were given a platform to make new work. We have established ongoing collaborations with international arts institutions and engaged with a wide range of local community groups, schools and young people. This publication features texts and projects with and by Abel Auer, Zbynek Baladrán, Željka Blakšić, Patricia L.Boyd, Michael Bracewell, Helen Cammock, Susanne Clausen, Steven Claydon, Kirsten Cooke, Noam Enbar, Marco Godoy, Renée Green, Andrew Hunt, Tali Keren, Mikhail Karikis, Pavlo Kerestey, Scott King, Veit Laurent Kurz, Ghislaine Leung, Yuri Leiderman, Jesper List Thomsen, Alastair Mackinven, Ivan Melnychuk, Method Fund, Jeff Morton, Lada Nakonechna, Novel (Alun Rowlands and Matt Williams), Michal Oppenheim, Rory Pilgrim, Daniil Revkovskiy, Lozana Rossenova, Nir Shauloff, Maayan Sheleff, Sarah Spies, Cally Spooner, Studio For Propositional Cinema, Jack Tan, Mykola Ridnyi, Nina Wakeford, Steven Warwick, Matt Worley, Katarina Zdjelar, Stas Volyazlovsky.