Prima Ink — Migration, Memory, and Collaboration

Over the past fifteen years, Prima Ink has welcomed a variety of artists in residence, creating a space for exchange, experimentation, and shared artistic processes in Tromsø.

During and especially after the COVID period, new forms of collaboration began to emerge. What started as a physical studio gradually evolved into a network of exchanges — projects, ideas, and connections extending beyond place.

In recent years, Prima Ink has developed meaningful collaborations and project exchanges between Tromsø, other parts of Norway, and Montréal. These encounters have been deeply enriching — artistically and personally — opening new perspectives on mobility, distance, and belonging.

These experiences have shaped the current direction of Prima Ink.

Today, Prima Ink operates as a flexible and evolving platform, no longer rooted in a single physical space. The focus shifts from hosting to connecting, from structure to process, and from place to movement.

The work now develops through collaborations centered around themes of migration, floating roots, territory, and geography.

Projects take place in different contexts depending on each collaboration — in Norway and internationally.

Artists in residence November 2019

We had the pleasure and honour to receive two Spanish artists in the month of November 2019. The two have a very different background than the usual artist in residence here in Prima Ink. They are autodidact urban and graffiti artists. They had no experience with printmaking before they came. It was impressive to see how they embraced it and worked with it. It was also impressive to see how they engaged with local artists in Tromsø and throughout their travels in Scandinavia. And, how they have managed to paint so many walls in Tromsø and in Norway.

«18 aviser !! Lokale og nasjonale, har skrevet om veggmalerier og graffiti malt av dette paret. » ( Diario el Correo, spansk avis)

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For en vakker historie om Bisho og Rocio: om skapelse, mot og intenst arbeid i en verden der det ikke alltid er lett å ha et sted å stille ut, eller bli sett eller hørt. De er to aktive kunstnere som har vist at det er mulig å være utøvende kunstner, involvert, og invitert til å utføre kunstverk i løpet av tiden de reiste i Norge og Skandinavia.
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Energien og motivasjonen de viste, var grunnen til at jeg inviterte dem til å delta i artists-in-residence i Prima Ink (grafikkverksted i Troms fylkeskultursenter)
Etter oppholdet i Tromsø ble de invitert og hyret inn for å stille ut arbeidene sine og, å utføre veggmalerier flere steder i Norge.


Bisho og Rocio har malt mange vegger i Norge og Tromsø. En av dem er i Tromsø sentrum, en annen i sentrum av Troms fylkeskultursenter og, flere andre på rundt om i byen. De samarbeidet på en dynamisk måte med lokalbefolkningen, lokale kunstnere og studenter fra Kunstakademiet.


De jobbet også med og, prøvde ut forskjellige grafiske teknikker på Prima Ink.
Artists-in-residence-programmet på Prima Ink er strukturert for eksperimentering og utforskning av kreativitet i og utenfor grafikkverkstedet. Og det kan en trygt si at de gjorde!

Tusen takk Bisho og Rocio for å dele kunnskapen deres om graffiti, urban kunst og mye mer!

Vi ønsker dere lykke til videre i kunstverdenen!

Artists in residence May 2018

What a month!

We had two very energetic artists at Kysten and Prima Ink. Heloïse Audy and Lena Gudd. They both have different backgrounds in art and, none of them had much experience with printmaking. They embraced the printmaking and took it to a new level. Three dimensional printmaking, mixed media and, a whole different way of thinking around printmaking. Very interesting and inspiring!

Although the two artists are very different, they had a very good cooperation. They interchanged ideas and discussed their research.

At the end of the month we had a vernissage where they showed their work in progress and their research. We even had an article in the local press. In Norwegian: Click here.

For more information about the two artists and their work: Please visit their websites.
Lena:  tumuult.com
Heloïse: heloiseaudy.com

Thanks to Vidar Dons Lindrupsen for the photos.

Kom og lær Collagraphi! teknikk som kan brukes til både dyptrykk og høytrykk. Teknikken er miljøvennlig og lett å lære. 

http://www.primaink.org/kurs-1/

Årets første kurs - fotopolymer: eksperimentering og eksplorering

Prima Ink

Årets første kurs hadde som mål å gi en innføring i fotopolymer og giftfrie dyptrykksmetoder.
Vi brukte blant annet transperanter som utgangspunkt for noen av bildene.

Vakumbord for fotopolymer i bruk.

Kurset strakte seg over to dager. Den første dagen lærte vi om materialene og om teknikkene.
Den andre dagen praktiserte vi disse teknikkene.

Det var fantastisk å se hvordan deltakerne på kurset eksperimenterte, eksplorerte, gjorde feil, lærte av feilene og, gikk videre.

Å gjøre feil er en utrolig viktig del av det å lære, og en viktig del av den kreative prosessen. Uten feil kommer vi ikke videre.

Til slutt lagde vi en monoprint (monotypi) sammen. Et kollektivt bilde i kollektiv kunstnerisk utfoldelse.

Jeg gleder meg allerede til neste kurs.

Northern Impressions

Audrée Demers-Roberge from Québec and Tammy Ratcliff from Ontario, both Canadian artists would like to share some of their research and observations from their time in Tromsø. 
Audrée's drypoint prints are the result of a combination of art and science focusing on Svalbard Global Seed Vault crops from Syria.
Tammy's pronto plate lithography and monotype prints are experiments into new territory and a culmination of her discoveries exploring Tromsø.
Andrée Demers-Roberge and Tammy Ratcliff who have been in residency during the month of August 2016 in Kysten ( Primaink.org) will be giving an Artist talk about their work - all are welcome.

When: Tuesday 30 August 2016 At 18:30

Where: Gjesteatelier (kysten)  (second floor)

Adresse: Strandveien 95

Isadora Cuellar holder artist talk på loftet på Kysten fredag 27. november kl 12

Fredag 27. november kl 12 på loftet på Kysten inviterer vi til en spennende samtale med Isador Cuellar, og åpner for spørsmål og innspill underveis. Hun skal snakke om arbeidene sine i keramikk og grafikk. 

Det blir servert kaffe, te og kaker.

Presentasjonen vil bli holdt på engelsk. 

Hjertelig velkommen! 

Fredag 27. november kl 12 på loftet på Kysten

Isadora Cuellar info:

Isadora lives and works in Mexico City. She studied a Bachelor in Visual Arts at the National School of Visual Arts (ENAP-UNAM, Mexico) with specialization in sculpture and a Masters in Visual Arts at San Carlos Academy (ENAP-UNAM) with specialization in graphics

She has had nine solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in Mexico City and other states of the country. She has participated in over 35 collective exhibitions in Mexico and abroad. She received Grant for Young Creators 2011-2012 FONCA (Mexico).

Her work has won several awards, among them:

2nd place. Art 40, Mexico City, 2010.

1st place. Contemporary Ceramics "4th Tonallan National Ceramics 

Competition", Tonala, Jalisco, Mexico, 2009.

1st place. Sculpture "Fifth Biennial of Painting and Sculpture of the 

Southeast". Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico 2007.

She has participated in several artistic residencies among the most relevant: Artistic residency in ceramics with a final exhibition and lectures. Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, USA, 2015.

Artistic residence and delivery of three workshops in Red Star Studios and

Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO, USA, 2013.

Artistic residence Gruber Foundation with Gerda Gruber. Cholul, Yucatán,

Mexico, 2010 and 2013.

Artistic Residency at Banff Centre. Banff, Alberta, Canada, 2006

For every internal structure of human beings is a changing structure, that has the ability to renew itself and has a close relationship with its environment; always with a reference and a connection to a larger structure, generating direct connections, which relate and feed each other in a continuous and infinite movement. With her work she seeks to promote reflection on particular aspects of the human-nature interaction, since witnessing and experiencing nature will lead to reconnect with ones spiritual nature, remembering that one is part of it, as one is part of a society.

This will be decisive in our influence for changes that will occur in the ecosystem, society and on yourself. 

www.isadoracuellar.blogspot.no

Artists in residence July: Caroline Boileau and Stéphane Gilot

Caroline and Stéphane have made some very interesting work at Prima Ink during their residency. It has been very inspiring to have you here. 

Caroline Boileau
Montréal, Québec, Canada
www.carolineboileau.com 

On drawing and the residency project at Prima Ink.
With watercolor, collage and drawing, I work on improbable bodies by imagining what transpires beneath the surface of the skin, what is trapped between the organs, what eats away at the frame and is ready to surface at any moment. I imagine bodies that burst out and overflow, where limbs and organs proliferate and unscrupulously appropriate those of other creatures from the animal or plant realms. Through the metamorphosis of these hybrid beings, I strive to re-enchant the world that surrounds me, a world that all too often leaves me at a loss for words.
During my residency at Prima Ink, I will be working on a series of lithographs and artist books printed on pages from pharmaceutical compendiums and medical textbooks found in the studio. I will also be working on a video project with Stéphane Gilot. This experimental video will follow a performance which began in an installation Stéphane produced in Havana, Cuba, to the waterfront and forest of Håkøy, Norway. 

Stéphane Gilot
Montréal, Québec, Canada
www.stephanegilot.com

 On drawing and the residency project at Prima Ink.

Intimately linked to my architectural and performative installations, the practice of drawing (including cut-outs, collage, watercolor) allows me to assess various options for each project from preparatory sketches to final construction plans. The watercolor drawings also allow me to develop other thematic areas related to phenomena of vision (hallucinations, altered states of consciousness, dreams, urban expectations, etc.) or to theories or obsolete techniques (optogramme, spirit photography, for example), as well as mnemonic reconstructions (memory, déjà vu).
During a one-month residency at Prima Ink, I will work on a series of lithographs and watercolor, hybrid images combining views of the surrounding landscape with interior views of libraries and architectural spaces. During my time in Tromsø, I will also be working on a video project with Caroline Boileau. This experimental video will follow a performer (Boileau) in different spaces, from an installation I produced in Havana, Cuba to the waterfront and forest of Håkøy, Norway. 

Velkommen til utstillingsåpning Fredag 5. juni kl. 18.00. 

Grafikkutstillingen  Avtrykk- Uttrykk- Inntrykk

Vernissage:  5. juni kl. 18.00       

Alle er hjertelig velkommen

Åpningstider
Fredag  5/6      18.00 -  21.00
Lørdag  6/6      12.00 -  17.00
Søndag 7/6      12.00 -  17.00

Avtrykk- Uttrykk- Inntrykk

Grafikkverkstedet ”Prima Ink” viser sine arbeider i en utstilling på Troms fylkeskultursenter (Kysten) helgen 5. til 7. juni.

”Prima Ink” er et arbeidsfellesskap hvor både profesjonelle kunstnere og amatører kan komme for å eksperimentere og uttrykke seg gjennom grafiske teknikker. Tromsø har her et lokalt, internasjonalt og kreativt miljø. Grafikk-verkstedet har også gjestende kunstnere (Artist in residens) fra forskjellige steder i verden. Det er  ekstra spennende å møte andre kunstnere fra ulike nasjoner, som kommer med nye tanker og erfaringer.

Nå er Hélène Latulippe fra Canada her. Ved siden av og skulle delta på denne utstillingen, arbeider hun også mot en større utstilling i Canada.

Utstillere:

Agata Magdalena Sulikowska
Ann-Kristin Edvardsen
Christina Wegener
Hélène Latulippe
Ingir Bål
Linus Krantz
Silvia Eliana Martinez
Turid Ousland

Sted: Kysten,  Strandveien 95, 

9006 Tromsø 

For the first time Prima Ink is having artists in residency. In April Carole Canon visited us. She worked with photopolymer. Carole Canon is a french artist based in Brest, She has also lived in Tromso for a year and a half. Here is her website: www.caroleconan.com

Hélène Latulippe from Montreal, Canada is visiting us in May. She is experimenting with all types of papers, and concepts. Website:http://helene-latulippe.blogspot.ca