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Daemen College and South China University of Technology Art Exchange Will Promote Creativity and Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Intersecting Currents: Daemen College and South China University of Technology Art Exchange Will Promote Creativity and Cross-Cultural Collaboration
December 9, 2009
Contact
Mike Andrei
Director-College Relations
Daemen College
(716) 839-8472
mandrei@daemen.edu
This month, students and faculty from the Daemen College Department of Visual and Performing Arts traveled to Guangzhou, China, to begin an international exchange of art work with students and faculty of South China University of Technology (SCUT). The exhibition, Intersecting Currents: New York Artists at SCUT, represents the first collaborative step between the two institutions; a return exhibit, of artwork by students and faculty of South China University of Technology, will arrive at Daemen in fall, 2010, simultaneously with the first class of Chinese art and graphic design students from SCUT, who be attending Daemen.
The idea of exchanging artwork internationally was initiated in the fall of 2007, during a visit to SCUT by Daemen administrators; specific plans for the collaboration went forward during a follow-up meeting, also in China, in March, 2009.
“On an institutional level, the appearance of work by Daemen College artists within the Chinese Academy is a natural way of furthering educational collaboration,” noted Daemen President Dr. Martin J. Anisman. “Intersecting Currents allows Chinese faculty exposure to the technical and conceptual processes of the Daemen Visual Arts Department. The collaboration also provides an opportunity for the work of Chinese artists to reach Daemen students, introducing an expanded artistic perspective on both sides.
“That exchange is what internationalization is all about in academia, and why Daemen College is a staunch advocate of this form of practical, beyond-the-traditional classroom experience.”
Just after Thanksgiving, Daemen sent two Visual and Performing Arts faculty members, Professor Emeritus of Painting James A. Allen and Assistant Professor of Painting Felice Koenig, along with two senior arts students, Nancy Backus and Christopher Damiani, to accompany the exhibit of more than 60 pieces of Daemen art work to South China University of Technology. All Daemen Fine and Performing Arts Department students were invited to submit work to be considered for the exhibit, with the final selections made by Daemen arts faculty.
Damiani, a graphic design major from Buffalo, noted, “The process of planning the entire project was long, but it was also very smooth, because of the close working relationships between the students and faculty.”
Backus, a graphic design major from Parkersburg, West Virginia, said for her and other Daemen fine and performing arts students, opportunities to have their work seen off campus are always fun, and exciting.
“But this, to have a chance to be in an international art exhibition, is really important, I feel. The Daemen faculty are always encouraging us to engage in off campus work, in the community – it’s a big part of our major – and this sort of takes it to another level. I can’t wait to see how our department’s art will be viewed by everyone in China.”
Along with the new avenues for international collaboration that the Daemen-SCUT linkage opens, the process also reveals another level of creative synergy: faculty and student dialogue. In its final form, the exhibit is meant to illustrate the connections between generations and individuals. Each Daemen faculty member was asked to select student artists to illustrate the transference of ideas within the College’s Fine Arts Program. The project subsequently revealed how the faculty’s work evolved and shifted in the work of their students, and often flowed back to provide insight to the older generation.
Members of the administrations, faculty, and student bodies of both Daemen College and South China University of Technology feel the nature of Intersecting Currents speaks to the depth and breadth of a vital, creative exchange. The points of intersection, Guangzhou in December, 2009, and Western New York in December, 2010, represent opportunities with potential for artistic growth for two institutions separated by half the globe, but united in similar goals of visual communication and expression.
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