Kate Wilson

Out of the constraints of isolation and economics experienced by "Third World" artists grew the Triangle Workshop, a model for international cooperative artists' residencies. Unlike artists' residencies in the U.S., Triangle Workshops are not associated with one site, but with a modus operandi: to gather artists from developing countries who need "their freedom and metaphorical space" to work in a way "not determined by aesthetic dogmas imported from Europe or North America or by the necessities of the market" and its post-colonial manifestation, the tourist trade. Triangle's promotional material makes unabashed use of the expressions "empowerment," "ideological core," and "non-hierarchical," and makes explicit its aim of "respect for cultural, linguistic, geo-political, sexual and racial difference"—references that mark it apart from other artists' colonies.

On the belief that artistic expression "can be independent of the market," what the Triangle Workshop stresses even more than the public exposure the event brings is the stimulus that comes from working with artists of different cultures, which (perhaps paradoxically) helps "artists to establish their own identity." A 1997 participant reminisces: "Talks would continue late into the night: interminable exchanges across cultures, the bridging of vast gulfs, the meeting of minds."

Started almost twenty years ago in New York City, the Triangle Workshop now spreads across a network of international affiliates, organizations that adopt the same model alongside their other local projects. The workshops are organized by artists in the host country, last two weeks, and, where possible, repeat annually. To date there have been workshops set up on this model in ten African countries, the U.K., the Caribbean, and South Asia, as well as in New York City. The Triangle Workshop network crosses continents and taps into regional networks, as, for example, the affiliate in India, called Khoj, works to establish a regional network across South Asia. (NYFA sponsors the Triangle affiliate in Trinidad, Contemporary Caribbean Arts.)

An affiliate in Kenya, named Kuona Trust, after having held three Triangle-model residencies, recently hosted a different kind of gathering among Triangle colleagues and other arts workers. Kuona Trust assembled the international group in Nairobi not to create art, but to brainstorm about using the Web for arts organizing in Africa. With nationwide poverty, and electricity not a given, few Kenyans can own a computer. Those who can go on-line through Cyber Cafés; in remote areas, people deliver messages through public announcements on the radio.

In this less-than-wired context, African arts groups and artists look to the Web as a means to create community and spread information, rather than as a tool of art in itself. What the African groups envision are basic resources which New Yorkers may take for granted: Web sites and a list of opportunities for artists. American consultant (and former NYFA consultant) Joe Matuzak, who trained several Kenyan artists in Web design, summarizes their aims, "If you're in Africa, you would never know about FYI. You would never get in contact with a call for entries. That's what a lot of this is about: simply saying what artists are up to, and finding opportunity in some way, shape, or form."

Links to Triangle Workshop affiliates:
www.cca7.org/textframes/artstrust.html (Trinidad)
www.khojworkshop.org (India)
www.kuonatrust.org (Kenya)
www.triangleworkshop.org (New York)