The Expatriate Archive Centre and the Saudade Project are pleased to announce that the Mondriaan Fonds has agreed to fund Saudade! The Mondriaan Fonds is a foundation that supports visual arts and cultural heritage in the Netherlands and beyond. It promotes outstanding and innovative projects and activities involving artists, mediators (critics and curators), museums and other heritage institutions, presentation settings, archives, galleries and clients. Based on its approval of the aims and methods of Saudade, the Mondriaan Fonds has granted the project €13.000.
A crucial element of Saudade’s application to the Mondriaan Fonds was the project’s collaborative nature. Interdisciplinary collaborations are occurring more frequently in the contemporary art world as artists strive to find new niches, conversations and strategies to create art that allows the viewer, to see the world from a different perspective. Furthermore, the EAC looked for a tool in which a representation of its archive could tour throughout the Netherlands, creating partnerships with other heritage organisations and this is the perfect vehicle to do just that.
This project also offers rich possibilities for The Hague’s artistic climate because it gives local artists access to some unusual and thought provoking archive material dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, right up till the present. This may inspire the practice of the artists, not only for the project but perhaps for many years to come. The publication, blog, social media and suitcase tour will provide excellent publicity for the artists throughout the Netherlands and further afield. Furthermore, as a project involving international and national artists, this endeavour will offer the artists a new network of like-minded professionals for potential collaborations in the future. For the young emerging artists involved, the project provides a framework and support to create new work and allows them to show alongside more established artists. The artists based in The Hague will be able to meet each other at the archive to exchange ideas and discuss response strategies.
It is important for the EAC to celebrate the anniversary of its organisation in a way that engages new audiences and presents the collection from an alternative viewpoint. The EAC already attracts researchers from many different disciplines, including migration studies, history, geography, business management, psychology, and others. In addition, in the past photographers and film artists have found inspiration in the materials contained within the EAC’s collection. This new project will highlight the possibilities for merging the socio-historical with the artistic, resulting in an expanded scope of use for archival materials. The public display of the art, as well as the publishing of the book will also bring the EAC’s collection to life for the public in new ways, and contribute to greater public interest in donating materials to the EAC, and interacting with the organisation in other ways.
A huge thank you to the Mondriaan Fonds, both for the financial support and for the vote of confidence. The entire Saudade team looks forward to making the dream we have presented to you a reality. The Saudade Project also continues to seek funding for future phases of the project. If you or your organisation would like to serve as a sponsor, please contact us at pr@xpatarchive.com.