Dialogue 1

Dialogue 1 Birmingham-Bordeaux artists’ exchange programme 2010 http://www.arts-chartrons.info/6eme-art-chartrons-novembre-2010-1788.html#.U0a93Ua1tBk Since 2008 a number of artists from Birmingham have been engaged in an exchange programme with artists based in Bordeaux who share a common interest in generic urban themes of architecture, people and situations. Recently, this has included the exhibition Dialogue 1; the title reflecting the idea of an ongoing, two-way, conversation between groups of artists in Birmingham and Bordeaux. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with Art Chartrons, Bordeaux. Art Chartrons is a visual art festival held annually in the city of Bordeaux. For the 2010 festival, the Art Chartrons Association wanted to highlight the strong historic, economic and cultural ties with Great Britain, and invited five Birmingham artists to create a keynote exhibition in the prestigious Halle des Chartrons. The invitation came as a result of the existing interchange between Bordeaux and Birmingham artists that had existed since 2008. Past projects had included collaborations such as Bridge - ‘Still Life/Nature Morte’ in 2008 and ‘Re-place’ plus ‘Le Hangar en Bois’ exhibition in 2009. All these exhibitions were supported by Art Chartrons, Le Hangar en Bois, Arts Council England, Birmingham City University, Coventry University and Oxford Brookes University. The Dialogue exhibition was opened by the British Consul with over 500 people in attendance. It received French press coverage via two radio interviews and a 10-minute Canal France television news feature broadcast.