Arts Directory Profile

IASKA

IASKA

IASKA, formerly International Art Space Kellerberrin Australia, was formed in 1998 by farmers and art professionals interested in exploring cultural identity through art. We are a non-profit organisation that runs an international program of visual arts/new media projects that are based on an in-depth engagement with specific local social and environmental situations. Our activities comprise context-specific projects, solo exhibitions, touring group exhibitions, publications, educational and mentoring programs. Until 2008 IASKA's activities were carried out mainly in and around the small town of Kellerberrin, 210 kilometres east of Perth.

From 2011 IASKA will present Spaced, a biennial event of collaborative, socially engaged visual arts projects in communities throughout Western Australia as well as several overseas locations. Geographically separate situation-specific projects will be the nodes of a network and the participants in a dialogue between culturally and geographically distant places.

Spaced will comprise residency-based projects developed in partnership with local arts groups and other organisations, particularly in socially, geographically and economically disadvantaged communities. The new program will focus on modes of practice that aim to produce work by engaging with, and intervening in, everyday social relations and situations. Special emphasis will be given to approaches that attempt to open art to non-artistic forms of social practice such as science and technology, social activism, design and architecture. This approach is representative of important aspects of the contemporary international art scene and reflects the artistic line that IASKA has been developing since its inception.

IASKA aims to:
- increase access to contemporary art in regional areas
- create diverse, challenging experiences for established artists
- broaden Australian contemporary arts expression
- increase arts-related professional development, mentoring and educational activities in regional areas

IASKA has been assisted by the Community Partnerships Committee and Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body, and by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts and Lotterywest.

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