To the casual observer artist residencies or colonies can sound a bit pretentious (and in the old days they could sometimes be just that), where artists get to be Artists, or badly behaved solipsists. But the reality is nowadays that these places diverge enormously in terms of their demands, intentions, and environments they operate in. […]
Residencies
All The Way Up To The Sky
“….When the trains arrived, at three in the morning, that was the worst time for us. You hear the brakes screeching and you hear the people’s footsteps, and the kapos with the dogs pushing them forward. When the dogs howl, it goes all the way up to the sky…” “…..every time I come back to […]
Leaving Home To Come Home
I saw Mary Zimmerman’s vibrant “The Odyssey” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival a few weeks ago, a tale of endless metaphors and heart-rending questions about “home”. I left my home, New Zealand, decades ago, to live in the USA. I’m back now on a seven week sojourn, immersed in concerts, residencies, teaching and seeing loved […]