DT: Thank you very much for having us can you please introduce yourself?
AA: Hi, I'm Alessio Antoniolli, I am the director of Gasworks and the Triangle Network. I've been with the organisation for 25 years, which makes supporting artists an integral part of my life's journey! But it's not just been about giving something to artists, I've also got a lot from it myself, like the pleasure, the excitement, the stimulation of working with and being surrounded by creative people. What is particularly key about Gasworks and the Triangle Network is our international nature, in essence it's about hope and about opening horizons and thinking beyond the local. And, to use the privilege of interacting with people from different cultures and from different parts of the world to learn about how to be in the world. It's been 25 years of huge privilege.
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DT: What would you say is like the main mission when it comes to the residency programme?
AA: It's an opportunity for artists from very different parts of the world to become part of and have access to London's diverse community. Artists stay here for three months, and during this time Gasworks is an anchor, but it's the city's resources, diversity and networks that make the residency very special and the reason so many artists want to come here. For many residency artists it's their first visit to London, so there's a lot to discover and there's a lot to get to know. And what we try to do is mediate that encounter, support them throughout but also give them a place and a space, through the provision of a studio, where they can create something in response to the stimulations, the conversations and all those ideas they come across during their time here. This is why all residences end with an open studio, not an exhibition. It's because we encourage experimentation, we want the residents to be led by process, not product. This is important to us and it's the reason we want to keep the residencies as open as possible. In a place like London, which is so dominated by money and the commercial art sector, protecting the process-led ethos of the residency is paramount for us. With this in mind, the open studios become a 'calling card' for the artists and are a brilliant opportunity for the public to meet them, see their process and be part of the conversations. -
Lou Lou Sainsbury: Earth is a Deadname, 2022
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DT: Evidently, from your record diversity is a part your DNA. However, it will be lovely to hear it from yourself elaborating upon the importance of diversity at Gasworks
AA: It's impossible to talk about Gasworks without talking about its international connections. The fact that each year we do residencies with artists from Bolivia, Peru, South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand etc… gives you a sense of where our mind has been and where our thinking is going. Diversity and inclusion are intrinsic to who we are as a cross-cultural and cross-national organisation and network. It really is in our DNA! That's not to say that we don't have blind spots and that we shouldn't work to actively improve things. It's important that who we are and what we do reflects society, and to do so we need to ensure we allow society to enter the arts. We take this responsibility very serious. This is why we constantly reassess our organisation and our programmes regularly. Things that didn't seem important 20 years ago are extremely urgent now. We tend to look at artists and our audiences for guidance as this is a living, never-ending process that involves having all our structures and policies up to date, but also involves keeping our eyes and ears open and not being scared to change. It's always reassuring when we cross-check ourselves against our policies and goals, we find that we are compliant without trying. There's something quite organic about our processes, which is very different from being an organisation that does things just to tick the boxes.
DT: Regardless of your incredible success, I am certain there are a few hurdles to overcome? What is your recipe for success while enduring the various organisational and structural obstacles?
AA: For me, the key word is transparency. When we publish open calls for residencies, we tell artists exactly what the residency will involve. They know before they even come here, what their bedroom looks like, they know what their studio looks like, they know how much budget they have, how much they don't have, what we can give and what we can't. We use the same transparency when talking to audiences or when communicating to our supporters and patrons. Alongside transparency, a lot of our work is about managing expectations. We try to be as clear as possible as to what we can offer and what we can't do. This does not mean that we are not ambitious, we always want to aim higher, but it still needs to be realistic. The same goes for our small team. Our success is the result of joined up thinking and people working together towards a common aim. We work very hard as individuals and I find that when we join forces we can achieve so much more, weather it's with the rest of the team, the artists, patrons and funders are partner organisations. I think it's this clarity that attracts people to Gasworks. Patrons, for instance, come to us because of they are interested in artists and want to meet them and this is exactly what they find when they come here. -