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AIR agrees memorandum of understanding with Scottish Artists Union.
UK’s two most significant membership bodies for visual artists reach agreement.
The SAU and AIR are pleased to announce a formal memorandum of understanding between both organisations has now been agreed.
Rowena Comrie, President of the SAU, said: “Input from the SAU stems from an independent Scottish platform of over 900 members, represented by an elected and voluntary executive. While stressing this unique position, the SAU are delighted to share their years of accumulated experience and knowledge of the professional Scottish artists environment, and look forward to some positive shared experiences.”
One of the areas of collaboration that the SAU and AIR are beginning to look at addresses the ways in which artists from the UK can connect more effectively with international opportunities.
Sally Sheinman, Chair of AIR, commented: “I am delighted that SAU is our first partner in making international connections. Artists often travel abroad for work and yet both SAU and AIR have found that membership costs and benefits of joining international organisations have proved prohibitively expensive. We hope this is the beginning of building international relationships based on liked minded thinking and not on outdated models of international communications.”
The announcement follows the publication of key research into international visual artists’ representation by April Britski, Director of Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC). The study found there is an overall interest among visual artists’ associations in connecting more closely with their sister societies.
Summarising her findings, Britski commented: “When visual artists speak on behalf of other artists, it carries more weight, and when they carry the same message from around the world, it is very difficult to silence.”
Background
In early 2010 Chris Biddlecombe (past President of the Scottish Artists Union) met with Susan Jones (Publisher and Director of a-n) to discuss the potential for the Scottish Artists Union (SAU) and AIR: Artists Interaction and Representation (AIR) to share information for the benefit of all artists’ working lives.
The aim was simple: to bring together joint services and projects, with the capacity for collaboration on campaigns and research where these are of mutual interest and benefit.
Links
Find out more about AIR’s activities here »
Visit the SAU website here »
Read April Britski’s research into international artists representation here »
First published: a-n.co.uk June 2012
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