The TOP 5 (Arts) is a two-week media residency, which aims to discover Australia's next generation of dynamic thinkers and give them a voice.

Paired with ABC Radio National’s Blueprint for Living this is the kind of thing I’m going to be making radio about:

My current research investigates the value of artist-in-residence programs offered worldwide. There are residencies in caves, tall ships, national parks, schools, libraries, in multinational corporations, on islands and archipelagos, in banks, on trains … Why do organisations seek artists to reside in their work places? What do artists do in-residence that is unique and unrepeatable?

My research investigates the cultural infrastructure of in-residence as a space for creative experimentation, cross-cultural collaboration and site-responsive processes.

The practice of artists ‘going away’ to seek new experiences and inspiration, free from society’s restraints, is nearly as old as the notion of the modern artist itself. But how sustainable are artist-in-residence in a time of climate emergency? How can we rethink and reframe ‘in-residence’ as an embodied way of thinking and doing rather than ‘going away’?

Netflix documentary next? Watch this space.