Damaris Pan and Matthias Briche-Malefond, Kometak’s first artists in residence

The Etxepare Basque Institute, the Huarte Contemporary Art Centre and Zébra3 have announced the selected creators selected for the inaugural plastic and visual arts residency under the Kometak project. The aim of the project is to strengthen cooperation and cross-border ties between cultural professionals and creators in the Basque Country and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France. As part of this first edition, a creator from Nouvelle-Aquitaine will carry out their artistic residency at the Huarte Centre, while an artist from the Basque Country will do the same at Zébra3 in Bordeaux.

For the inaugural edition of the Kometak project, Damaris Pan, a creator from the Basque Country, has been chosen for a creative residency in Bordeaux. The residency will take place at the Zébra3 dissemination and production centre from April 13th to May 24th. At the same time, Nouvelle-Aquitaine creator Matthias Briche-Malefond will be carrying out his artistic residency at the Huarte Contemporary Art Centre from April 6th to May 15th. Both artists will view their residencies as opportunities for research, experimentation, and collaboration. Afterward, the work processes developed during the residencies will be showcased to the public, featuring both the final artworks and the cross-border nature of the experience.

The artists were selected through a publicly announced call for entries, which received a total of 58 projects. The submissions were evaluated by a committee made of representatives from the organisations promoting the project, along with professionals from the art world, including curator and editor Peio Aguirre and filmmaker and artist Elsa Oliarj-Ines.

Damaris Pan

The selected project by Damaris Pan is entitled ‘Derrapaje Metafórico’ (Metaphorical Skid) and uses painting as its central theme. Her work revolves around two fundamental elements: painting understood as a speculative practice, and the contradictions involved in painting today. Her work will combine experience, direct experimentation and critical reflection.

Damaris Pan was born in Mallabia, Bizkaia, in 1983. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions including ‘Oalddilal V’ (Museo Patio Herreriano, 2024), ‘Male Male’ (Fermay, Palma de Mallorca, 2023), ‘Un martillo en la cabeza’ (Ana Mas Projects, Barcelona, 2022) and ‘Cuernos a la vista’ (BilbaoArte, 2020). Her most notable group exhibitions include ‘El árbol de lo que aún no sabes’ (CaixaForum Barcelona, 2023) and ‘Bi Dos Two’ (Azkuna Zentroa, 2018). Damaris Pan has participated in artist residencies in China, the United States and Germany. In 2024 she received the BMW Award for Painting and in 2021 the GURE ARTEA Prize.

She currently resides in Bilbao, where she pursues her artistic practice and teaches at the Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country.

Matthias Briche-Malefond

As part of this artist residency, Matthias Briche-Malefond will create a research project that culminates in a sound and visual installation. The central idea behind his project is to approach traditions as evolving imprints and narratives, rather than legacies fixed in time.

Matthias Briche-Malefond was born in a rural setting in the Limousin region, in 2001, where everyday experiences ignited a lifelong interest in the gestures and practices of rural life. He later moved to Bordeaux, where he studied for five years at the School of Fine Arts. His work resides at the intersection of installation, sound and sculpture, generating a dialogue between spaces, surfaces and materials. His artistic practice explores the sonic qualities of sculpture, focusing on traces, remnants, cultural and oral traditions, and sound as carriers of memory.

Cross-border cultural cooperation

Promoted by the Etxepare Basque Institute, the name of the project, Kometak, refers to the réseau Comète (Comet Line), created during the Second World War to help downed Allied airmen safely cross the border. This reference serves as a metaphor for culture and artistic creation as powerful forces that can pave new paths and amplify their impact when functioning collaboratively within a network.

The project is co-financed by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Euskadi Navarra Euroregion, which reinforces Kometak´s important role in cross-border cultural cooperation policies. In partnership with the Huarte Contemporary Art Centre and Zébra3, Kometak was established with a focus on continuity. Its goal is to expand into other  artistic disciplines, bring in new partners and strengthen its role as a network for cultural cooperation in the region.