NOMAD and its objectives

NOMAD is an international network for production-oriented research and a residency programme for artists that are not jet established on the art market, initiated by SODAart in Vienna.

NOMAD raises questions on strategies of cultural practitioners, conditions for production and generates situations for critical perspectives. This open network gives itself a research task to work on for the period of about two years together with artists and experts from different backgrounds. This year’s field of researching, discussing, producing and experinenting is operating under the title of "Art as option for action". SODAart has outlined the subject area and has invited experts, partners, network members and artists to work with us on this annual topic.

This project involves a number of cooperation with cultural initiatives in various European locations.

NOMAD works as a nomadic system, together with new cooperation partners every two years, offering a platform for research and artistic production on a defined topic, engaging in different local realities that carry new perspectives into the programme and continuously widen the network NOMADnet. This year’s triangle between SODAart (Vienna) - Residency Münzstrasse 10 (Berlin) - Villa Arson (Nice), is the projects organisation for the programme 2007 - 2009.
Through setting up an innovative (in the way that it is not based on an institutional, national or economic background) artist residency programme in different European locations, NOMAD creates a laboratory for professional artistic productions, presentation and artistic discourses on European level and visibilises it´s work through the presentation of artistic strategies (exhibitions and publications).
Further NOMADa.i.r. programme aims to promote transnational mobility, and intercultural dialogue among emerging artists, providing them an access to contemporary arts scenes and strengthening the professional standards of participating artists.

NOMADa.i.r. offers a theoretic and empiric approach in contemporary interpretation of cultural, social, political, historic and economic contexts, that influence artistic production (and vice versa).
Aim is to present a new productive space for artistic and cultural analysis and discussion that learns to critically read the relations between contemporary art and continuously modifying contemporary structures of society and to think and try new possibilities of artistic practices in relation to those structures.
In that way NOMAD positions itself as a forward-looking, interdisciplinary and production-oriented think-tank.

The NOMADa.i.r. and NOMADnet

Every NOMAD research phase runs for 2 years, including the artist residency programme (NOMADa.i.r.) and a series of mediation programmes in order to communicate and to link the NOMAD programme to the general public.

The residencies will take place in Vienna, Berlin and Nice. Participating artists will have the chance to visit and work in two of the stations, exchange with their fellow artists of other European origins and attend workshops by specialists from international art sector.

The artist development and residency programme, NOMADa.i.r., includes following phases:

Research phase: workshops and lectures by experts from international art sector. Preparation of their own work. Exchange with fellow artists and tutors.

Production phase: all participants will be working together at SODAart studio in Vienna and produce the planned work.

Presentation phase: Numerous project presentations will take place, including touring presetation of final artworks in renowned contemporary art institutions, publications, exhibition side-programmes, artist presentations and NOMADnet meetings.

From out of the programme, NOMADnet will be set up, which aims to create dynamic synergies between artists, practitioners and specialists from art sector as well as promoters of artistic productions and at the same time, be responsive to the general public and our contemporary life. NOMADnet will deal with respective subject areas, that participating artists will be working on in each module. The work of NOMADnet will be incorporated into the annual publication and is a part of the mediation programme that accompanies the annual show in February 2009.