Lancaster Arts has announced that the winner of the 2020 Nuffield Bursary is artist Tara Fatehi Irani for the development of interactive art project Mishandled Archive.
Lancaster Arts received a large number of applications from a broad range of artists from across the UK, working in theatre, live art and visual art. All responded to a season theme of "Radical Histories, Radical Futures".
The bursary includes a week-long residency from January 13–17 at the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster in addition to a £1,000 cash investment, mentoring, dramaturgical and technical support.
During the residency, Tara will test new ways of presenting her current project. She has collected images and texts over many years, mostly relating to her home country of Iran. Alongside these installations, a dance was performed and passers-by became spontaneous audiences. Tara documented each day’s event with a photograph which was posted on Instagram alongside written descriptions and dance scores.
Tara said, “the focused time and access to space and technical facilities throughout my residency will allow me to test the notions and dreams I have had for this project, and nurture new ideas for its development.”
Last year, the bursary was awarded to composer and cellist Maja Bugge who used the time to develop Northern, a new jazz project in collaboration with Adam York Gregory and Hervé Perez which was later performed at Lancaster Jazz Festival.
At the end of Tara’s residency week, she will present a work-in-progress at the Nuffield Theatre.