EMMA’08 – INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
JULY 29 - AUGUST 4, 2008
At the Ness Creek Festival Site in BIG RIVER, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA

100 INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
7 EXHILLARATING DAYS OF CREATION
1 INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE

WHEN:
The Emma International Collaboration will begin with set up on Sunday and Monday (July 27 & 28), 2008. Official opening will be on Tuesday, July 29, when 100 dedicated craftspeople and artists from around the world will meet and work for the next 5 days. There will be a wind-up party on Sunday, August 3, and an auction on Monday, August 4, 2008.

MISSION:
The free exchange of inspiration and technique through hands on experience. We produce some of the most innovative, exploratory, fun work in the world.

LOCATION:
The Collaboration will take place from July 29 to August 4, 2008 at Ness Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada. See Map

AUCTION:
An auction of the all the created works will be held at the Western Development Museum, 2610 Lorne Avenue South, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada on August 4, 2008 at 12:00 for viewing and 2:00 for the auction.
 
HISTORY:
The Emma International Collaboration grew from a series of Woodturning and Furniture Making workshops organized by Michael Hosaluk, Jamie Russell and Don Kondra through the Saskatchewan Craft Council starting in 1982.

In 1996 we moved to an artists’ retreat in the Saskatchewan boreal forest with a history of fresh thought. Formal instruction was replaced with a collaborative energy where people were encouraged to get together and “make stuff”.

Joel & Fabiene - photo by Cathy Sproule

We expanded our creative base to include blacksmithing, metal fabrication, a foundry, painting and anything we could find that fit the spontaneous nature of the event. Thanks to the generosity of a private charitable foundation we were able to sponsor many outstanding makers in these fields and “Emma” became one of the world’s greatest celebrations of creativity. View images from previous collaborations.

In 2006 we relocated to The Ness Creek Music Festival Site in Big River Saskatchewan. The founders of this cultural site are expanding programming to broaden their user base. The site is undergoing a facelift with the addition of a shower/toilet facility and cabins for accommodation. Local participants volunteer many hours of labor and truck loads of equipment to transform the site into a creative milieu for artistic collaboration. After 6 days of exhilarating creativity everything is loaded up in a 5 ton truck, hauled to Saskatoon and sold at a public auction.

“Emma” invitations are issued on the basis of ability in and dedication to one’s discipline and the ability to share and sustain one’s energy in this creative maelstrom. We aim for a balance of gender, age and stature. This means we have relative novices sharing the experience as peers of the world’s leading makers ensuring the ongoing vitality of these fields.

INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS:
This event will help you explore new directions and recharge your batteries at a remote setting in the northern boreal forest. We provide an excellent selection of wood and metal tools and all kinds of surface design materials. Local artisans volunteer their equipment (Forges, lathes, drill presses, stick and TIG, MIG and aluminum welding, table saw, jointer planer etc.). We have a large selection of acrylic and milk paints, found objects, paper, cloth, mixed media material, sheet metal, iron, scrap metal, farm machinery parts, tons of wood and sheet goods. Most people bring their favorite hand tools and something to put in the parts pile to share with others.

Accommodation will be a mix of tenting and small cabins with bunk beds. There is a toilet and shower facility and a sauna. There is a good fishing lake 15 min. drive away. We will have daily trips there to a nice beach and boats for people who want to fish.

All of the items made at the event are the property of the Emma Collaboration and the Saskatchewan Craft Council and are sold at a public auction and the money is used as seed money for the next event.