«Window» online residency, an experimental format of cooperation between Swiss and Russian illustrators, was launched by Pro Helvetia and the international festival of the book illustration and visual literature «Mors».

Anna Chefranova, the curator of the residency explains the idea of the project as follows «Today, we have all means to get in touch with anyone in any part of the globe, immediately see photos, video, hear voice, while being locked in our countries, and the only physical contact with the outside world is our window.  These conditions are interesting for an artistic research; what we really feel, what our fears are and what has changed inside of us.»

The residency unites artists from Switzerland and Russia — Yannis La Macchia, Irene Schoch, Anna Sommer, Andrey Pokrovskiy, Marta Zhuravskaya, and Sayana Khomonova. Before the pandemic, each of them used to live his/ her own life differently, however, these days, they have similar limitations and fears. Their task is to sense and record this experience together.

The artists will spend one month sharing stories of their lives before and after the pandemic and fixing those stories in their illustrations. Materials and communication of the online residency will be filed in a non-virtual publication. More

Photo: (c) Irene Schoch