We are delighted to welcome artist collective Wright & Vandame as the next Open House Artists in Residence for North Cambridge. Josh Wright and Guillaume Vandame will be working with communities in North Cambridge to creatively respond to the local area from now until March 2020.

Wright & Vandame are the first artist collective to work with Open House, following Emma Smith, Isabella Martin, Harold Offeh and Hannah Kemp-Welch. Open House has welcomed an Artist in Residence each year since 2015, selected by the community, with an aim to explore the local area, collaborate with local residents and create new artwork together. In 2018, Hannah Kemp-Welch worked with groups and communities to create new sound work: HYPERLOCAL RADIO.

Earlier this spring, four artists were shortlisted from an open call for the residency, and were invited to develop a workshop for a local community group, to talk about their art practice with the Open House community panel and to tell us why they would like to work with people in North Cambridge. We are delighted that after careful deliberation Wright & Vandame were selected by the panel for the 2019 residency.

Wright & Vandame’s work is often about creating social situations, through which participants have an active role in the outcome of the work – whether in an exercise class or sharing a meal. In 2015, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts as part of fig-2, they transformed the studio into a gym, with free exercise classes taught by trainers and artists.

The artists have already been to visit the Kettle’s Yard archive and are particularly interested in themes of wellbeing and self-care. In all of their work, they’re interested in the role of the artist with a focus on working with people, moving beyond traditional associations of art as something purely aesthetic or decorative. 

Open House will be running free drop-in workshops with Wright & Vandame and our team of Artist Facilitators at community events in North Cambridge this summer. Join them at Arbury Carnival on Saturday, 8 June and Chesterton Festival on Saturday, 22 June.