THE SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL MANIFESTO
What is the Swatch Art Peace Hotel Guest Artist Program?
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Guest Artist Program is an artists’ residency program designed to bring together talented artists from around the world to experience a unique cultural environment dedicated to contemporary art. Selected artists are invited to live and work in specially designed workshop studios for a period of up to six months, in a community of eighteen people from all artistic horizons and national origins. By bringing together in a prestigious setting the creators of art – the greatest luxury of all – and leading Swatch Group watch brands, the Program aims to situate art at the very heart of an urban space dominated by luxury goods.
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Guest Artist Program offers artists, who are shaping the luxury of tomorrow, the opportunity to counteract peripheral isolation and develop creative exchange by living and working together in a dedicated environment in one of Shanghai’s most prestigious locations. Two floors have been reserved for this purpose in a legendary landmark building in Shanghai, China. Under a concept developed by Swatch Group, the former Palace Hotel (later known as the Peace Hotel South Building) has been restored to its original splendor. Now known as the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, it is located directly on the Bund, once the heart of old Shanghai and today the luxury mile in one of the biggest and most dynamic cities in the world.
Art and its propagation are of intrinsic importance to Swatch Group. The link between watches and the luxury of art was first introduced by the Swatch brand with its concept of “the world’s smallest canvas”. While making art accessible to everyone, the concept also associated the traditional Swiss art of watchmaking represented by such notable brands as Breguet, Blancpain and Omega with the exclusive prestige of a commissioned work of art.
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Guest Artist Program welcomes a broad range of cultures, artistic styles and media. Artists are under no obligations with respect to the organization or nature of the work undertaken during their residency. They are free to engage in individual or joint projects and to work according to their own schedule and plans. All participants will be asked to leave an artistic “trace” of their visit at the end of their stay, but will be completely free to choose how to do so.
The main focus of the project is on creative exchange. Artists are encouraged to engage in collaborative work and discussion and to interact as a dynamic artistic community so as to enrich the creativity of the group as well as each other’s work. Communication, confrontation, observation and discovery should challenge the artists and enable them, in this vibrant artistic and cultural environment, to build upon their existing skills and extend the boundaries of their art.
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