Participating Artists Press Agency - PAPA
PAPA (Participating Artists Press Agency) is an internationally curated network of artist-correspondents. PAPA is nomadic, it doesn’t have a fixed office but works from temporary offices in cities all over the world. Projects can be self-initiated or commissioned by third parties. PAPA is an instrument for world mapping gently fixing even the most stubborn pieces into a meaningful pattern. PAPA inspires a broad audience and informs specialist arenas such as art, city development, politics and the news industry.
Lino Hellings is the artistic director of PAPA. She developed PAPA in a residency at Photo Press Agency Drik in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and in working with local photographers (with an international status) in PAPA-Labs in Lagos (Nigeria), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and Bishkek (Kyrgystan).
To be honest this initiative could be called an artists collective or an advertisement company just as well. PAPA likes to combine the freedom within art with the honest curiosity within journalism and the acuteness of advertisement.