Encounter between traditional and contemporary art and craft practices

The Artpackers.life Residency Program is based on the idea of exploring and expressing the encounter between traditional and contemporary art and craft practices. It welcomes practitioners of all art forms (visual and performing), architecture and design, in an environment that provides time, space and inspiration.
Focused on experimentation, the principal mandate of this residency program is play – play with concepts, techniques, materials, colour etc. We encourage our artists to make mistakes, use this time to re-establish the link between imagination and actualization, and further develop their practices.

The Alleppey region is very unique as it has access to many local art and craft forms and the residency also aims to support the artist and the craftsmen through a mutual and symbiotic dialogue. Upon request, we can help by sending you a list of local art and craft forms that are ripe for exploration, and also connect the artist with the craftsmen during the course of the residency. Artpackers.life lies in the historically significant town of Alleppey/ or Alappuzha in Malayalam. The city is part of its namesake district Alleppey and is 75km south of Kochi. The property is a short walking distance to the beautiful Alleppey beach. Our building built in the late 1930’s and drawing inspiration from Dutch architecture, is located along the length of the backwater canals among green surroundings.

The location is ideal as it provides a serene and a calm working environment. Elevated wooden ceilings, intricate and traditional wood detailing along with its tiled roof lends an exclusive and innate character to the building. All India Radio used it as a studio for many years and thence as a primary school in recent past; the remnants of both which are still visible. The site has an open yard shaded by a central tree that provides for an excellent platform of an outdoor communal area capable of being used for art installations and activities.

• The residency program is open throughout the year.
• Presently, Artpackers.life has a capacity of taking up to four on-site artists at a time. We offer shared studio space to artists (up to
two artists per studio). We can provide you with the entire studio if you need for additional fees. Please let us know in advance and we
can check on our availability.
• Each artist will have access to Internet, individual worktable and a modest storage space to keep their belongings.
• Each artist is required to provide details of any additional assistance or materials that they may require during their stay.
• The residency is for a minimum duration of two weeks and maximum duration of three months
• The residency fees include the chosen type of accommodation, shared studio space, Wi-Fi, breakfast, and access to the pantry to prepare
their meals. The applicants may also take advantage of the food made for staff, which is a simple, fresh homely vegetarian fare at
cost.
• During the residency, artists will also have free access to bicycles, available within our premises for their research and exploration
work.
• The Artpackers.life team will be collaborating with each resident artist on documenting and archiving their works to create a database
of ideas and resources.
• The Artpackers.life team will be happy to give you any further logistical assistance that you may require
We can send you a list of local art and craft form easily open for exploration upon request. Additional charges will be applicable for materials
and will be decided upon by the traditional master craftsperson.
Upon culmination of the residency program we can also arrange to exhibit the artist s work at an art gallery in the nearby town of Fort
Kochi, if desired.