“What my work is about, is that it hides gender, race and class, so you’re forced to be confronted with something that is unfamiliar. It can’t be categorized.” Nick Cave – On May 28, 2015, American artist Nick Cave presented the second Contemporary Conversations lecture, an exciting new artist exchange program for Art in Embassies(AIE) […]
Art brings order to chaos. It gives it voice; it gives it a language.” – Eric Fischl In September 2015, artist Eric Fischl travelled to Ottawa to participate in the third installment of Contemporary Conversations, a series of public events organized by Art in Embassies (AIE), the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa, and […]
“Art exists within us. It’s about breaking down barriers. Every stitch from every person is like a thumbprint, and when the threads come together in my art, it’s a metaphor of how we’re all connected and related. Only it’s not just a metaphor, it’s the reality.”
“To me, this is the most exciting moment in the history of photography. The potential to explore things that we’ve never done in a still photograph are so great. . . I’ve been very conscious of using new technologies in the medium to push the medium outward …”
“We were thrilled to have Dan Namingha, a renowned Native American artist, share his work and experience with Chileans and represent the diversity that makes America the great country it is. Art diplomacy makes a difference and is impactful. As I heard from many who participated in Dan’s events, art brings people together and promotes […]
We are pleased to bring a diverse group of incredibly successful contemporary American creators to inspire Spain’s next generation of artists,” said Ambassador Costos. “To make it in today’s art world, creators must also be entrepreneurs. These events not only expose Spanish youth to a few of the amazing artists represented in our Art in […]
The Art in Embassies American Artist Lecture Series at the Tate Modern-London is a unique collaboration with Embassy London. In celebration of AIE’s 50th anniversary, the three-year-long program will feature six noted American artists. Over the next three years these three partners have committed to highlighting six acclaimed American artists in lectures at the Tate Modern and to conduct cultural exchanges at various locations in London. This partnership will welcome audiences of young artists and scholars. Brice Marden began the lecture series in May 2012 with the first American Artist Lecture in the series. Maya Lin completed her lecture in October 2012. Richard Tuttle gave his lecture in the series on November 4, 2013, followed by Spencer Finch on May 29, 2014, and Julie Mehretu on September 22, 2014. Glenn Ligon is the latest in the lecture series, giving his talk on May 11, 2015.
As an artist and global citizen, this exchange was like honey butter on the heart….Traveling to Ethiopia, a deeply spiritual, soulful and ancient country, to create and interact with local creative minds was diplomacy at its best. The country’s variety of cultures, and deep varied history exposed me to a wealth of information and knowledge […]
Participating in the Art in Embassies program has been a great opportunity for me to bridge my personal aesthetic with that of another country. It is still too soon to tell the real personal and cultural value of this experience, but I am already excited, and can feel the effects—personally and aesthetically—of my exposure to […]
In the spring of 2014, inspired by conversations with State Department AIE curators during studio visits, a group of nine Senegalese artists proposed a collaborative mural project for the new U.S. Embassy in Dakar. The mural was painted on the interior of the embassy perimeter wall facing the new U.S. Embassy building, visible from the […]
“My mind is brimming with new knowledge, fresh experiences and deep insights into the Islamic world, and the city and citizens of Doha in particular. I found the Qatari people I met to be warm, welcoming, friendly and enthusiastic about my being there. The artists I met were equally eager to share their work with […]
For me, this was one of the most meaningful aspects of the cultural exchange. The connections that I made with these students are deep, long-lasting and continue. Fran Siegel Artist Fran Siegel had been asked to create a site specific commission and conduct a cross-cultural artist exchange by curator Claire D’Alba for the new U.S. […]
Artist Spencer Finch, whose Moonlight window installation is currently on display at Winfield House, the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence London, was the fourth speaker in the American Artist Lecture Series, a partnership between Art in Embassies (AIE), Tate Modern and US Embassy London. This partnership welcomes audiences of young artists and scholars in a lecture hall […]
Artist Julie Mehretu was invited by Chief Curator Virginia Shore to be the fifth speaker in the American Artist Lecture Series, a partnership between Art in Embassies (AIE), Tate Modern and the U.S. Embassy London. Mehretu has currently two works on temporary exhibition; Plovers Wing at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence Madrid, and System, at the […]
“…We’ve been exploring Monrovia, shaking hands, listening, digging into all kinds of research, completely blown away each day, and flat out humbled by what we have seen and the people we have met. From the artists working with children, actor/writer activists working to leverage change in government arts policy, to the lone university art professor in the whole country who is inspiring his students against all odds and an administration that is struggling to rebuild and cannot find support for the arts, to the women quilters embedded deep in the community empowering young men and women. The work throughout is pure, beautifully made, raw, thoughtful, and done with very little to no governmental support.”
Let me say that I do not consider myself the bold, adventurous type… so when the curator of Art in Embassies called me to offer me the opportunity to travel to Nairobi to participate in an Artist Exchange , I was excited but quite nervous…. I knew almost nothing about Nairobi, let alone Kenya… During […]
Working with the Arts in Embassies program in Norway, I saw how art as diplomacy necessitated the same process of cultural learning and dialogue that stands as the chief goal in the United States’ diplomatic missions abroad. Meeting with members of the Norwegian art community, government officials, and others on the ground where we would […]
Following the success of the Senegalese Artist Exchange project in Dakar, Art in Embassies collaborated with The Phillips Collection, Millenium Arts Salon and Cultural DC on the 2014 International Forum Weekend Leading Edge Ideas; Inside the 21st Century Museum, sponsoring four artists from the mural collective to travel to Washington D.C. in October of 2014, […]
“The invitation for me to moderate a series of panel discussions called ‘Transformations’ with both U.S. artists and South African artists also inspired me to think about my memory of activist art of the past and my first visit to South Africa in 2005. As I drafted questions for the artists in order to discuss […]
