Joya: AiR / Ciska Meister / DEU

‘The residency at Joya: AiR completely surpassed my expectations of what a residency can do for me and my practice. This place is so entangled with the world-building I am currently thinking through; not only in how to live climate-positively but also in how to align yourself with your natural surroundings in a responsive way. The building is made of the stuff it is surrounded by, it extends tentacles into clay and grass, hoping to be its companion, hoping to enter a union. The residency's environment is an invitation to stand still and listen with a keen ear. Being severed from the high-paced, ever-productive artist-, filmmaker- and city-life allowed me to newly find much-needed joy in being creative. At Joya, being productive wasn't a task or a chore, it came to me unobtrusively and encouragingly. What Donna and Simon have created here gives me hope for so many possible exciting futures. And, last but not least; Donna's food was simply mind-altering’.

Ciska Meister