We’re thrilled to be taking part in this year’s hotel generation programme!

Created and led by arebyte Gallery, hotel generation is a yearly UK-wide development programme that mentors the next generation of digital artists. Once shortlisted, the selected artists are assigned to different arts organisations, where they are supported in crafting an exhibition proposal. Participating organisations this year include FACT (North), QUAD (Midlands), and NEoN (Scotland).

The programme aims to empower participants and provide them with the skills to present well-developed proposals, offering constructive criticism and guidance through workshops and mentoring sessions. The artists will exercise skills such as time and budget management, as well as honing their ability to articulate their ideas concisely and effectively.

The programme culminates in a solo exhibition at arebyte Gallery for the winning candidate, selected by a panel of esteemed judges in the digital arts sector.

We are very pleased to announce that we are partnering with shortlisted artist, Kinnari Saraiya! Over four months, FACT will support Kinnari in developing her proposal, which will be presented to the judging panel in August.

About Kinnari Saraiya

Born in Bombay, India, Kinnari Saraiya is an artist, curator, and folk dancer based in Gateshead, UK. Working across film, virtual reality worlds, sculptural installation, and folk dance in a multimodal practice, she considers herself a storyteller and a worldbuilder, allowing her to weave together complex sensorial narratives.

Her practice utilises ancient and sensorial storytelling formats of dance and music that transcends visual imperiality to reveal a hybrid, anti-casteist, decolonial and feminist ecstatic truth. Her work centers the practice of dance in the invocation of what leads to a space where we feel freed from the concreteness of the world, which creates a virtual imagination, a virtual worlding.

Her recent work किन्नर's prakṛtiḥ, nṛtya, laya premiered at QUAD in Derby and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Her upcoming exhibitions will be at The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle and FORMAT festival in Derby. She has previously exhibited at Kyiv Biennial, Frieze Art Fair, VISUAL Carlow, Russell-Cotes Gallery and Museum and many more. It was a Roadside Picnic, where she was involved as an artist and curator, won an Honorary Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica under Computer Animation.

Discover more about hotel generation and all participating artists here.