The Residency

The Residency Ok,so this is my first one. I'm obviously no expert. I decide to apply to this one only because it looked promising in terms of the support they were going to be providing for the chosen choreographer- Light designer, Sound designer, Mentoring for feedback and finally a 'public performance' opportunity. Superb! And Im excited about the 'result'. Post application, 3 months go by and I assume it probably wasn't me or they are still contemplating because typically for any residency an artist applies to, you'd normally get an email and always an email if its a no-no. But, to my surprise I get a phone call from the Indian collaborating organization to get ready to go to Seoul! All my bags packed, I'm welcomed by a single administration employee at the airport. This is my VERY first trip to Seoul, my VERY first residency ever. I arrive at the Art Space/Center and get introduced to another employee who had been my main contact person (email). Its about 8:30PM and both of them seem tired, AND its a Friday; time to go home! I understand and overlook the rather hurried and flustered 'tour' of the center since this is where I'll be for the next 2 months (where I can cook, where the stove, microwave, rice cooker the washing machine, restrooms, shower etc since all instructions are in Korean) The first week goes by smoothly. I'm allowed to use one of the three beautiful dance rehearsal studios ONLY 4 hours each day. I let go of this rule enforced upon an international artist resident who's actually living here (i.e.24 hrs). Mid second week, I begin to wonder when exactly would they introduce me to the chosen mentors and the sound designer/composer. But then its been only about 10 days and they are probably giving me a good chunk of time to come up with new material, develop the skeletal structure of this brand new piece since all this certainly takes time.Right? I let go my mind each day and improvise and start building my new piece. Since no one has introduced me to any other dancer/choreographer I assume I must work on a Solo. Great! Finally end of second week, I receive an email from my contact person here, who in my understanding asks me to be ready to 'present' informally what I have developed so far .Exactly 16 days later I have a lot of material (having spent 4 hrs earnestly everyday to create the movement and the concept) and am asked to 'present' only about 15 min and talk and discuss the rest of the designated 1 hour. Presentation goes well,I say -' i envision this as a solo primarily, but am looking for artists from any genre such as visual art, media, sculpting AND ofcourse the promised sound artist to collaborate and 'support' this new concept/project of mine'. Translations happen , everyone is silent. I gather that the remaining 10 resident artists are ALL Korean, of which 6 are also choreographer/dancers in house and 4 are visual/video artists. I am the only international artist here! Not complaining here, but the rather cold(?) and non-communicative behavior from the center's office for the first 3 weeks seemed on one hand quite odd and on the other, seemed their way of expressing non-intrusion and politeness (Hey, I'm no expert in Korean culture & etiquette!). Brand new country and I use my tour guide book to figure out the train system (very neat & cool) and the bus system (not cool , most places only written in Korean) and what to eat. But for the first 3 weeks I just cooked at the center's kitchen and ate in loneliness, except for 1 chance encounter (the day after I arrived) in the kitchen with 1 of the resident artist's group who were also cooking and sweetly invited me! My questions and requests are: 1) For someone who's arriving from another country with completely different systems and culture (though as an Indian there is always a LOT of similarities with other Asian cultures), I believe the administration of that Art Center is responsible and completely in charge of developing possible connections with other artists locally, only to start off! Certainly no one likes to be baby-sitter! 2)There was expectation from the funding organizations (the Indian and the Korean ones who selected me) that the artist independently must reach out, knock doors and establish connections, greatly hoping for a collaborative outcome. How is this even feasible (though I'm always up for challenges), when the local resident artists themselves haven't had the comfort and/or courage to knock on the other artist's door to start talking! For me, I really felt lost. Every instruction, information was given only in Korean. Few times I asked random artists locally what something meant, sometimes it was successful as they were comfortable in English translation. I emailed the administration a few times to gather information , but those few times I did, I was made to feel like 'now is not the right time, or now is not a good time to ask us. We are very busy. Please do not disturb' ! So I'm back to being alone 3)When the inviting organizations choose a choreographer/dancer, I believe it is lot more important to understand this genre completely and the requirements if they are particular of a collaborative outcome. Yes, for any 2 artistic genres to meet, the environment has to be warm, stress free, comfortable, open and comfortable.Much of this was absent for me. It was sheer luck /miracle that one of the local artists I bumped into turned out being a good friend of someone (another Korean artist-painter) who was my boyfriend's college mate 20 years ago! That sustained connection between my boyfriend & Korean painter , helped me getting closer to this resident artist (also a dancer/choreographer)and finally I've managed to establish a positive connection for possible future collaboration. But, are we expected to rely on such types of luck/miracles? 4)Finally, my application 'contract' (as it is termed in Korea) clearly stated what kinds of support would be provided to the chosen Indian choreographer. Why wasn't this read clearly by the funding and selecting organizations, committees and all the people involved? Because of 1 slip, there seemed to be a tremendous domino effect of misunderstandings, tense and sharp email exchanges, stressful phone conversations and so on. This could have been easily avoided with foresight and clean planning. In my understanding, all these organizations involved would have been happiest if I just 'adjusted' and 'went with the flow' and accepted any alternate outcomes. If I had not sent that important email (3 weeks into my residency) to the local folks showing them my actual pdf application file, they would never have realized what I was asking or understood my predicament. Thus, it is extremely important that more than 1 individual proof reads a contract application to avoid such unpleasant and dramatic surprises. I'm still unsure who's fault it was, really. The Indian organization involved tells me the overseas organization clearly had all* the information and they did not pay attention. And the overseas staff at the center here, claim they "never received" my contract application which stated the criteria and what must be provided. I was told I'm the 'guinea pig'; their first ever Indian artist within the genre of dance/choreography to be part of this International residency program as the hope is to build stronger , positive relations between these 2 countries. If I terminated (which i contemplated several times ) , it would have certainly created lot more tensions and black marks. As an artist, I decided to finish what I came for irrespective of the treatment I'm facing and the lonely situation I'm in. The studio I've been asked to stay is actually a 'work studio' . It has a grey , industrious feel; certainly not a warm homely touch; out of the 12 resident artists, only 2 or 3 others actually live here and theirs is also occasional. There have been times when I've been the only person in this huge center (apart from the security guard)! Its winter time; I have no control over the heating system because the center is government funded and they determine the in-house ideal temperatures! Yet, I feel blessed because for the very first time I got to rehearse in these huge, beautiful studios with proper dance flooring and mirrors. Happier note- The residency ended with the promised 'public performance' at the first rehearsal studio that converted itself into a performance space. Neat, intimate and so quiet! The Qn A session was fruitful as well. I truly hope to be part of another longer residency that permits lot more interactions and healthy, warm atmospheres that allow liberal flows of collaborations, communications and creations.