Thread Residency

Thread’s socio-cultural role is most pronounced in its function as an agricultural hub for Sinthian and the surrounding villages. Its staff provides the community with sustained agricultural and organizational training, while the physical site offers several gardens that locals cultivate for sustenance and as an income source. In addition to being served by a bore well, the building’s roof collects and retains rainwater, creating an ongoing water supply for these agricultural projects, which is crucial during the eight-month dry season.

Thread was designed to be a flexible and evolving public space, and the local population uses it in a variety of ways. It hosts celebrations, school performances, classes in language and health, village meetings, and an annual soccer tournament that draws thousands of people to Sinthian each fall.

The team behind Thread speaks to its collaborative nature. This is a project about connection and linkage. Between two distinct points, persons, places, or perspectives. To be like thread by forming connections that run through us, and not around us. Together we are using art to develop connections between rural Senegal and other parts of the globe.

This residency is an opportunity for artists to focus on their own work while being artistically flexible in adapting to the unique creative environment at Thread. It is entirely possible to work alone in a studio based manner but great flexibility is needed with regard to materials. Collaborations with the local community can happen but usually evolve in an organic manner. Artists are not expected to create a certain kind of project or have a certain kind of impact.