Boîte-en-Valise: Generator

Friday, May 5, 4–6pm 
Artist’s event
All six of the Boîte-en-Valise artists will be explaining their artwork and creative practice. 
Aspex, The Vulcan Building, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, PO1 3BF 

​May 10, 6–8pm
Launch event
Celebrating the launch of Boîte-en-Valise: Generator at the Preview Week of the Venice Biennale 
Corte Borella, off Calle de le Erbe, Canaregio 6415, Venice, Italy 

Artists: Yvonne Buchanan (USA), Mia Delve (UK), Tom Hall (UK/USA), Mika Mollenkopf (USA), Harold Offeh (UK), Susan Stockwell (UK).

Boîte-en-Valise: Generator encourages transportability of practice, the nurturing of collaboration and cross fertilisation of artistic practice.

Six established, mid-career and emerging artists from England and USA—in collaboration with three curators and audiences in Portsmouth, England—are developing new work for transport and presentation in Venice, Italy and Syracuse, USA. Audiences in Portsmouth will have an authorship in international presentations shared by social media.

The artists have been invited to contribute to an international project, developing networks and forums for collaboration for contemporary arts practitioners and audiences in the south of England and New York state through the international art hub of the Venice Biennale. 

Each is transporting the means to generate their new work, begun by working with audiences over two days in Portsmouth, in a normal sized suitcase. To be transported as luggage on a normal flight/train/bus journey and taken from the suitcase for presentation without any fixing to walls, floors and/or ceilings of the venues. 

The six artists bring together works including sculpture, performance, video, photography and sound as well as interventions and conversations.

Visitors to the preview week of the Venice Biennale are invited to join the artists on May 10 to 11, 10am to 8pm at Corte Borella, off Calle de le Erbe, Canaregio 6415. Visitors are also invited to a special launch event on Wednesday May 10, 6 to 8pm.

Subsequent events in October 2017 at Syracuse University will feature all of the artists and their work. Syracuse University provides an international critical space for artists and curators to consider the project, while connecting back via live-streaming to the audiences engaged in the initial development and production phase in Portsmouth.

A partnership between curator Mark Segal, theartistsagency, Aspex and the University of Syracuse. Funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Syracuse University. Supported by Arts University Bournemouth.

Artist biographies

For further information on the project, please contact:
UK: Oliver Tubb on +44 2392 77 8080 or ollie [​at​] aspex.org.uk
USA: Stephanie James on +1 315 443 3012 or sljames [​at​] syr.edu