[caption id="attachment_65486" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Artist, Skye Gellmann. Image credit: Kimberley Brewster[/caption]

Asialink Arts aims to be central to Asia-Australia contemporary cultural engagement through collaboration, experimentation and networks. Asialink Arts has launched a new initiative, Global Project Space (GPS). GPS is designed to reposition the organisation as a key innovator of curated projects that provide opportunities for a contemporary cultural engagement and development.

Under the new GPS initiative Asialink Arts and Next Wave have teamed up to select physical theatre performer and Next Wave alumni artist Skye Gellmann to participate in the Awaji Arts Circus Festival on Awaji Island in Japan, which opens on September 30.

Asialink Arts Director Sarah Bond says “Enabling Skye to explore and expand his practice globally as part of the Awaji Art Circus program will no doubt create encounters and opportunities beyond the festival. We are also delighted to be supporting Next Wave Festival director Georgie Meagher to travel to Japan to research and select a Japanese artist to be part of the Next Wave Festival in 2018.”

Asialink Arts programs provide a platform for collaboration and engagement both nationally and internationally through artist commissions and exchanges for artists and arts administrators, producers and curators. It acknowledges that cultural engagement between Australia Asia requires a commitment for the long term.

GPS will explore the centrality of Asia in this new global cultural landscape and the opportunities it presents for Australian creative professionals. GPS will be driven by co-production and will illuminate the work Australian artists undertake in Asia to local creative communities through partner presentations, forums and conversations - in both real and digital spaces.

Other Asialink Arts GPS collaborations now announced are:

• Indonesia-Australia writing exchange: Tulis (Too-lis) 2018 is a two-way Australian-Indonesian writing exchange. The project will bring an Indonesian writer to Australia to conduct a four-week residency at Varuna Writers House, a two-week placement at WestWords and participation in the Sydney Writers Festival.  Deadline: 1 October


• Japan-ACT Australia glass arts exchange: This reciprocal residency is a craft exchange between leading glass institutions Canberra Glassworks and Toyama Glass Studio. Each resident will undertake a six-week residency at their host organisation. Australian applicants for this exchange must be from the ACT (Australian Capital Territory). Japanese applicants will be selected by Toyama Glass Studio. Applicants for this residency must have a basic level of glass skills, and awareness of working in a hot glass workshop.


• Global Collaboration Exchanges (various countries and arts disciplines)  Proposals invited from eligible Australian artists and arts workers 2-22 October.