Artist and residency sponsors

Trip to the Temple at the top of the Mountain ranges opposite Morni Hills Residency

 

Trip to the Temple at the Top of the mountain opposite the residency speaks for itself. Stunning and mystical, it is a 2 hour drive weaving through the mountains from the residency at Morni Hills in the Himalayan foothills. Harpreet gives descriptions of Hindu gods and spiritual custom at the top as we hang out with monkeys sitting on the cliff tops and vultures circling above.

Arriving at Morni Hills Art Residency : November 18th - December 30th 2017

Arriving into the Shivalik Ranges of the Himalayas with Harpreet Singh, the director of the Morni Hills Art Residency is breath taking. Stunning views from all sides, we as curator and artists in residence take many days to settle into such a beautiful setting, taken care of by a team of local and volunteer workers for the residency as construction of the main studio and things around the residency continue around us. We are guided into the village by Sarwan, one of the volunteers who is a former MFA student of Harpreet's in Chandigahr and given often historical or contemporary explanations of things in Hindu or Indian custom by him and Harpreet which is fascinating for the residents. The food prepared for us is vegetarian and delicious and we gather around night bonfires and share artist talks and discussions on topics of interests to the artists which the local team are welcome to join. We create morning dance and yoga classes on the rooftop of the residency and enjoy animal life (2 puppies recently bought), dogs and monkeys integrated into this setting. It is a beautiful beginning to be integrated into a slower pace of life, which is gently chaotic and beckons a lot of interaction, constantly with music or singing happening from the temple below or the cooks.

Healing Hill Art Collective (HHAC) was established in 2014 to sponsor and support contemporary art. The Residency is situated in a very peaceful and a spiritually oriented place overlooking the Badisher Valley, with the Ghaggar river winding through and breathtaking views of terraced farms in Morni Hills. HHAC is a residency-based contemporary art venue for artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, dancers, curators, designers and thinkers from around the world. HHAC is above all a collaborative, supportive working atmosphere and we welcome artists interested in exposure to rural India and local agriculture and those who wish to share their creative work with this community. HHAR’s primary aims are to: promote interest, awareness and understanding of visual arts in a rural community through engagement with an artist; develop visual arts projects in rural communities, where emerging artists work alongside established artists in a secluded residential campus. HHAC provides Indian and non Indian artists with the opportunity to live and work in Morni Hills for the period of 2 to 3 months. The programme also organizes a diverse range of talks, presentations, performances and open studios as a means to establishing links between visiting artist and the public, stimulating discussions on the artists’ ideas and their work in progress. HHAR generates interdisciplinary projects by working with artists and other professionals who explore challenging social and environmental issues, often involving people from communities.

"After quitting from the University in 2012, I wanted to make my studio and a place for like minded people somewhere close to my house (Chandigarh) but in the hills, so the journey for searching a place started in the lower Shivalik ranges of Himalayas and continued looking for a place for nearly one and a half years and eventually I found this 38 years old 6 bedroom house in the rural area of Badi Sher (Morni Hills) and since then renovating, adding and curating projects simultaneously. Now, I have 13 rooms, big kitchen and 10 clean bathrooms/toilets. I’m just an artist and investing my savings in this venture believing in curating/conducting innovative projects ". - Harpreet Singh 

20 Artists selected 2017

Josie Elizabeth Archer, Performance, New Zealand
Agne Auželytė, Performance, Lithuania
Antonia Barnett-Macintosh, Sound composition, New Zealand/Germany
Chelsea Baxter, Performance, New Zealand
Kosta Bogoievski, Performance, USA/New Zealand
Alice Colley, Music/performance, UK
Sara Cowdell, Performance, New Zealand
Kyah Dove, Performance, New Zealand
Shelley Etkin, Performance, USA
Joanne Hobern, Performance, New Zealand
Vicky Kapo, Performance, New Zealand/Australia
Caroline Künzle, Performance/video, Canada
Helene Lefebvre, Performance/art, Canada
Laura Marsh, Dj/performance, New Zealand
Gabrielle New, Performance, Australia
Jazmine Rose Phillips, Music/performance, New Zealand
Katia Reshetnikova, Performance, Russia
Jonny Rowden, Performance, UK/Australia
Rudolf Sanchez, Performance/video, Philippines

Curation Project Themes:

The works and artists for this residency will contribute towards conversations about a wide plethora of socio-political issues across demographics through their artistic medium. The aim of this residency is to invite artists working with diverse socio-political themes toward an understanding of how these diverse demographics are in conversation with each other. These subjects may include for example; post-colonial, gender, racial, cultural, ecological, sexuality, disability, indigenous, class and technology related themes. Artists are invited to exchange their practices in discovery of new understandings, discourses through support and exchange. These exchanges happen between artists during the overall residency within and around research and/or presentation of individual's works, as decided by individuals.

We are living in an escalating time of conflict, tension, economical, political and environmental crisis across the globe. This residency aims to therefore allow for the emergence of art projects and ideas from artists and and theorists addressing any number of these socio-political topics from very different demographics to address unifying themes around inequality and marginalization. This is in the hope for these conversations to expose diversity as a strength and conversation as a inspiring and not a divisive force as we see at the moment on the planet.