Sammy Chien was awarded a residency grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and the 5th International Cultural Exchange Grant funded by the National Arts & Cultural Foundation (Taiwan).
Political tension was at a peak between the Catalonian and Spanish governments. Taiwanese artistic producer, Huang Wen, Invited Sammy to participate in an exchange because Catalonia and Taiwan share similar experiences of political oppression. Sammy would like to share his research visit and artists residency in Barcelona.
There were three main components of the residency; the studio time at El Graner (a centre for creation of the body and movement); attendance of the MIRA Digital Arts Festival; and a collaboration with choreographer Manuel Rodriguez.
El Graner is framed within the Art Factories program of the Barcelona City Council and is managed by el Mercat de les Flors, with the collaboration of the APDC (Catalonia’s Dance Professionals Association) and the ACPDC (Catalonia’s Professional Dance Companies Association). El Graner aims at having an impact on different contexts of the creative fabric acting through several different work lines. The main areas of work of el Graner are: Creation, internationalization, thought, education and proximity. El Graner hosts dance artist residencies, develops artistic cooperation projects with other cultural agents and promotes the integration of the center within its neighborhood, among other objectives. As a center for creation, it offers the possibility of learning about artistic forms and practices and emphasizes an inclusive organizational structure that keeps a close contact with the audience through local activities.
MIRA is a digital arts festival based on three connected areas: exhibition, divulgation and education, and is held annually in Barcelona (since 2011) and Berlin (since 2016). Electronica, virtual reality, 3D sounds, 360º concerts, performances and screenings, robotics, immersive and interactive experiences, and new space, stage and light design are the anchors of a highly visual proposal. MIRA wants to make the audience feel closer to several worlds of tech creation within a digital art event aiming to become a platform for new talents as well as a showcase for world-known artists, and also create unique immersive experiences through tech innovation and live visual plus music interlace. MIRA promotes artistic collaborations and boosts the creation of new projects supporting relations between collectives, organizations and artists from the digital arts and technology fields. The non-profit feature of the festival helped by volunteers, makes the results being re-invested aiming to promote digital culture in the most sustainable way.
