About LIA

LIA-PROGRAMME

LIA is a non-profit residency programme that fosters artists internationally by providing them with spacious studios and cultural support, as well as opportunities to exhibit at the Spinnerei. The programme links young artists with the regional art community.


Good to know

  • Leipzig offers a strong artistic community as well as ample art institutions.
  • The Spinnerei (1884) is a unique creative work space of a former cotton factory.
  • LIA is implemented in a structure of art institutions and art studios.
  • 83 sqm furnished studio spaces and 5 meter high ceilings to live and work in.
  • 9 galleries, an art supply market, art institutions and etching studios on site.
  • 1 h 15 min hourly to Berlin by ICE trains.

Concept

LIA is a not-for-profit art institution. Its aim is to create a unique work space and platform for cultural exchange. The programme is open to every nationality. Our studios are located in »Hall 18« with ample living and working space. A shared project room in front of LIA studios serves as discussion and exhibition space.

LIA functions within an already existing artistic and cultural network, generated by the atmosphere of the Spinnerei in Leipzig. Currently around one hundred twenty artists live and work in the cotton mill, where the not-for profit organisation Hall 14 organizes regular exhibitions of social relevance, and where nine local and international galleries  such as EIGEN + ART or Gallery Dukan from Paris operate.

LIA offers a wide audience access to the making of art and its creative process by giving the opportunity to experience a place where art is reflected and created. In this way LIA aims to build a more personal connection between the artist and the audience encouraging discussions about art in the artists actual studio. Guest critics and artists are invited to contribute to these discussions and visit LIA studios. In the past years the programme managed several exhibitions abroad amongst New York City, Paris, Marseille, and Madrid. It even enabled residents to show with other galleries such as Gallery EIGEN + ART.

LIA enjoys fruitful partnerships with international art institutions such as The New York Academy of Art and School of Visual Arts New York City. Together, alongside the programme’s main partner BMW and our cooperation made it possible for over 150 artists from over 40 nations to take part in the LIA programme since 2008. Amongst others the artists were from Australia, Ethiopia, China, Puerto Rico, USA and the Ukraine.

The Department for European and International Cooperation, Leipzig enabled us to extend our hospitality to Italian, French, Ukrainian and Ethiopian artists from our partner cities Bologna, Lyon, Kiev, and Addis Ababa. Leipzig’s Lord Mayor, Burkhard Jung, is our patron.