Activate are part of an International Artist Development programme called Sura Medura.
It facilitates a creative residency programme allowing mid-career artists a six week stay in Sri Lanka in a special creative arts centre where the selected artists have the opportunity to grow and develop their practice, using the resources available to them in Sri Lanka.
Lorna Rees is one of the three uk artists who has been selected for the latest residency programme. She previously performed her own work as part of Inside Out Dorset Festival (2014 with Ear Trumpet and in collaboration with Heidi Steller in 2016, Cloudscapes) Lorna will be documenting her time in Sri Lanka in her Blog.
She took Ear Trumper to Seoul Street Arts Festival in October 2017 and you can read about that here
Two other previous Inside Out Dorset Festival artists have been selected to take part in the Sura Medura Residency:
Helen Ottaway (Lachrymae from 2014 festival where we presented Ridgeway Responses at Little Bredy)
Flick Ferdinando (Hide, that formed part of Hengistbury Headlines, 2016 festival)
We look forward to reading their blogs and seeing how their work develops as a result of Sura Medura.
Activate are a partner organisation in Sura Medura, an International Artist Residency centre in Hikkaduwa, South West Sri Lanka. Established in 2011 and offering career-changing funded opportunities for European artists and self-funded opportunities for artists from elsewhere.
Mid-career artists from all disciplines are selected by Activate and the other partners and are invited to submit proposals to create work that is enhanced by being developed in Sri Lanka. Selected artists are offered mentorship and opportunities to meet with their peers in the Sri Lankan arts community. There are also opportunities to present the resulting work in the UK and further afield.
It was founded to continue the artistic programme of the Chandrasevana Centre that was established by the Hikkaduwa Area Relief Fund www.chandrasevana.com