LONDON.- Artangel today announces Thinking Time – a special initiative to support early-career artists to research, reflect and develop their ideas, with the generous support of the Freelands Foundation.

The current state of suspension where production has stalled and arts institutions around the world have been forced to close has brought into focus something that never shuts down: the power and importance of imagination.

Selected artists living and working in the UK will be funded by Artangel and the Freelands Foundation over the next six months to have some dedicated ‘thinking time’. Each artist will receive an award of £5,000 as well as mentoring and support from Artangel. The artists, aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s, work across the mediums of performance, poetry, choreography, music, video and installation.

In addition to the support of the Freelands Foundation, Thinking Time has been made possible through the generosity of artists and patrons, including the Artists for Artangel Fund, created in 2018 through the sale of works by 37 artists with whom Artangel has worked over the past 25 years, and by a group of private patrons the Guardian Angels .
Artangel worked with a wide network of artists, curators and producers across the UK to identify selected artists to be supported through the Thinking Time initiative.

The following artists have been invited to participate: Abbas Zahedi, Abi Palmer, Andrew Pierre Hart, Beatrice Dillon, Belinda Zhawi, Carl Gent, Cécile B Evans, Dominique White, Fabienne Hess, Himali Singh Soin, Jamie Crewe, Jay Bernard, Jos Bitelli, Libita Sibungu, Lucinda Chua, Maeve Brennan, Oona Doherty, Paul Maheke and Rosalie Schweiker.

Michael Morris and James Lingwood, Co-Directors of Artangel, said: “New opportunities for artists are few and far between right now, especially for those towards the beginning of their careers. These 20 artists will be part of whatever our future holds. We're excited to enable them to think ahead in the present.”