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The Secret Garden of England - April 2007
 In 2006 Rachael Daniels, Creative Director of White Nave, received a personal invitation from artconnexion to curate an exhibition to showcase young and emerging artists from Kent in their gallery in the heart of Lille, Nord-Pas de Calais.
Rachael had met artconnection's director, Amanda Crabtree, whilst working in her role as co-ordinator for a White Window. Further links between artconnexion and Kent have been established through Crate Studios in Margate and through artconnexion's hosting of a residency for Kent-based artist Emma Leach.
Rachael proposed an exhibition with rencontres to create networking opportunities for the artists from Kent and their peers in Lille.
‘The Secret Garden of England' exhibition took place during April 2007. Artists featured were Heather Defferary, Sonia Fox, Alison Fraser, Linda Gibson, Rebecca Hoye, Becky Mair, Alexandra Malins-Thirlwall, Stephanie Methven, Simon Mitchell, Tom Mills and Eric Murphy.
View images of the artists' exhibits in our gallery section above.
The works were predominantly video and the majority were presented in the ground floor space at the artconnexion venue. A small selection of works was presented in the first floor space which was also used as a conversation room where the Kent artists could meet to discuss future projects and collaborations.
Artists from Tourcoing University, just outside Lille, came along to meet with the Kent group on the Saturday of the rencontre weekend held on 7th and 8th April.
Rachael reported "The selected artists offered a diverse mix of practice at varying stages in their careers. Their work has not been shown together before and part of the ambition of this exhibition is to enable them to create new networking opportunities amongst themselves but also to foster a new trans-channel network between artists"
The event was reviewed by Peter Fillingham, an artist based in St. Ouen, Paris, and a Friend of White Nave. Peter says the event was "One of the more exciting projects developed within the Euro-region to date".
The insights gained in the organisation of this project produced the final catalyst that led to the forming of White Nave's Artists Fulcrum, a professional support facility for practising Fine Artists in Kent that aims to create opportunities for its members, encourage development and to enhance and sustain cultural activity in Kent. Peter Fillingham remarks "Artists in this region require continued support such as this from White Nave if they are to adapt and develop their practice. If this represents a start I would say that it is a very good one." See Peter's full review here.
Info:
artconnexion, 9 Rue de Cirque, Lille, France - http://www.artconnexion.org/
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