call for artists: contested desires
A transnational project exploring our shared and contested Colonial heritage and its influence on contemporary culture.
CALL FOR ARTISTS
(To download the brief as a PDF, please click here.)
Project Duration: February 2020 - August 2021
Project Fee (UK): € 6,305.00 (per diems, travel and accommodation are covered separately)
Artist Geographies: North of England
Artform: Visual arts (including but not limited to: film, digital, sound art, installation)
From the Greeks, to the Romans, the Ottomans to the Venetians, from the seafaring nations of Northern and Western Europe embarking on crusades and trade missions, Europeans have exploited, imposed and foraged cultures and communities to build their Empires.
This legacy presents a complex shared cultural heritage, too often untold, unknown and contested. A legacy of individuals, communities and nation states constructing their identities through a mosaic of cultural choices and desires.
CONTESTED DESIRES is a transnational capacity building programme for artists and producers engaging with communities and heritage spaces. With a focus on exchange and learning, the programme will offer unique opportunities for artists and communities to explore our shared heritage through research, workshops, residencies and exhibitions. Working in the UK, Portugal, Cyprus, Spain, and Barbados CONTESTED DESIRES will dig deep to explore, and reveal the links between our shared colonial history and our cultural identities today - from the diverse perspectives of those working across Europe and in the Caribbean.
At a time of increasing right wing populism, CONTESTED DESIRES aims to challenge the de-stabilising and divisive impact of political landscapes of Europe and beyond, where the response to the complexities, diversity and expansion of our communities, continues to be met with the power play of fear-mongering, discrimination and exclusion; where our borders become our protectors and our heritage our place of sanctuary.
Through a new and dynamic partnership, CONTESTED DESIRES connects six innovative arts and cultural organisations across the global north and south. Led by D6: Culture in Transit (UK) they include La Bonne (Spain), LAC (Portugal), Xarkis (Cyprus) and Fresh Milk (Barbados). ECCOM (Italy), cultural experts in the field of interdisciplinary practice, will develop a unique capacity building and evaluation strand to the project, in association with the writer and researcher, François Matarasso.
CONTESTED DESIRES is supported by Creative Europe, and as a legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018, uses the positive forces of co-operation and co-production to address the ‘authenticity’ and values of the heritage we share.
ARTIST BRIEF
CONTESTED DESIRES will engage nine exceptional artists (from the UK, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and the Caribbean) to participate in this ambitious and collaborative project from January 2020 until September 2021. This call is for 2 UK artists from the North of England encompassing the North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber regions. D6 particularly welcomes applications from artists whose practice and lived experience reflect the themes of CONTESTED DESIRES.
(For our partners’ calls, please see: La Bonne, Spain; LAC, Portugal; Xarkis, Cyprus; and Fresh Milk, Barbados.)
Please note: CONTESTED DESIRES will also release a future call for a complimentary artist film and video programme, which will be open to artists beyond the geographies of the partners to submit existing works that connect to the themes of CONTESTED DESIRES.
Working closely with producers, cultural experts and communities across a variety of local contexts, each North of England Artist will have the opportunity to be part of a programme of interrelated activities across several partner countries including research, training, symposia and the production and presentation of new work in site-specific contexts and online.
Each selected artist will participate in the following activities:
TIMELINE of activities for participating UK artists
Each artist must be available to participate in and commit to all activities listed. The selected UK artists will participate in either the joint residency in Portugal or Spain and the final group residency in Cyprus. Please identify at application stage if you are not able to participate in any of these activities.
January 2020
CONTESTED DESIRES Artists announced
February 2020
Capacity building workshop 1 hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal). Theme: Cultural Genealogies
An exploration of the genealogies of cultural heritage and their value in contemporary culture - How do we identify and map these connections? Are they valued? Who owns this heritage? How is this impacting societal change and intercultural dialogue?
February - March 2020
Joint residency 1 for three artists (one UK), hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal).
March - April 2020
Joint iterative exhibition by three resident artists, hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal).
June 2020
Capacity building workshop 2 hosted by D6: Culture in Transit (North East England).
Theme: Statecraft
An exploration of the construct of the nation state the workshop will consider: How do we navigate statecraft? How do we tell our histories and stories that represent inextricable connections globally? How and why do value systems change?
November 2020
Capacity building workshop 3 hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
Theme: Gender equality in Cultural Heritage
An exploration of gender equality issues considering issues such as access, participation and representation of women in the heritage narratives; the role of women as artists, and women in the cultural labour market.
February 2021
Joint residency 3 for three artists (one UK), hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
March - April 2021
Joint iterative exhibition by three resident artists, hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
May 2021
Digital training and production lab for all artists and producers, hosted by D6: Culture in Transit (North East England).
August 2021
Group residency for all artists and final exhibition of work in site-specific settings as part of the Xarkis Festival (Polystipos, Cyprus). And launch of all artists’ digital works online.
ARTIST FEE
The total fee for the work described in the brief is € 6,305,00, for which the artist is expected to participate fully in the programme. In addition to the artist fee, CONTESTED DESIRES will cover travel, accommodation and a daily per diem/catering for subsistence for international travel. Payment will be made according to an agreed schedule and on receipt of invoices.
The selected UK artists will each be provided a contract and will be managed by D6: Culture in Transit. All copyrights for the work produced will remain with the artist.
Please note:
There is a limited and finite transportation budget for the shipping of artworks. Selected artists will be asked to consider the mobility of their work.
D6 has an ambition to offer additional work to selected UK artists, in the UK and in addition to the activity above subject to pending funding applications.
HOW TO APPLY
CONTESTED DESIRES will be developed in response to the context of each place. Therefore, we are not looking for artists to submit fixed ideas or resolved project proposals in their application.
To apply, please complete an application form (available to download here) and send to [email protected]. Your application should be a single PDF or Word Document no larger than 15MB and must include:
Application opens: WEDNESDAY 16th OCTOBER 2019
Application closes: MONDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2019, 6PM GMT
Shortlisted applicants will be notified by: WEDNESDAY 27th NOVEMBER 2019
Selected applicants will be notified by: TUESDAY 10th DECEMBER 2019
All selection decisions are final.
Equality and Diversity
D6 seeks to ensure that no present or potential member of staff, artist or project participant is treated less favourably than another on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, age, social class or offending background. We aim to ensure that as many of our activities are as accessible as possible. If you have any particular access needs you would like to discuss, please contact us at [email protected].
ABOUT D6
D6 is an established visual arts producer, which for over 28 years has delivered transnational programmes working with extraordinary artists and intrepid partners to create works of art within neighbourhoods and public spaces. Our projects draw threads between communities to reveal the stories that make us who we are.
From the intimate to the spectacular, the artwork we produce is presented as part of public programmes, festivals and community events in our city, region and further afield. We regularly draw on the theme of home and migration and we are interested in the ideological, emotional, physical and virtual spaces where communities meet.
D6 is a portal to the rest of the world, where cultures meet and exchange and where artists and ideas come together to reveal our complex, surprising and interconnecting lives.
www.d6culture.org
SELECTION CRITERIA
Artists will be selected on the following criteria:
We welcome applications from artists with experience of presenting work both within and outside traditional gallery settings, and who are able to navigate multi-partnered projects in an open and collaborative way.
English is the primary language across the CONTESTED DESIRES programme. However, artists must be able to demonstrate ways of communicating effectively with speakers of other languages as part of the development, production and presentation of CONTESTED DESIRES.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please contact Andrea Carter, Lead Producer at D6: Culture in Transit/ [email protected]
This project has been co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
CALL FOR ARTISTS
(To download the brief as a PDF, please click here.)
Project Duration: February 2020 - August 2021
Project Fee (UK): € 6,305.00 (per diems, travel and accommodation are covered separately)
Artist Geographies: North of England
Artform: Visual arts (including but not limited to: film, digital, sound art, installation)
From the Greeks, to the Romans, the Ottomans to the Venetians, from the seafaring nations of Northern and Western Europe embarking on crusades and trade missions, Europeans have exploited, imposed and foraged cultures and communities to build their Empires.
This legacy presents a complex shared cultural heritage, too often untold, unknown and contested. A legacy of individuals, communities and nation states constructing their identities through a mosaic of cultural choices and desires.
CONTESTED DESIRES is a transnational capacity building programme for artists and producers engaging with communities and heritage spaces. With a focus on exchange and learning, the programme will offer unique opportunities for artists and communities to explore our shared heritage through research, workshops, residencies and exhibitions. Working in the UK, Portugal, Cyprus, Spain, and Barbados CONTESTED DESIRES will dig deep to explore, and reveal the links between our shared colonial history and our cultural identities today - from the diverse perspectives of those working across Europe and in the Caribbean.
At a time of increasing right wing populism, CONTESTED DESIRES aims to challenge the de-stabilising and divisive impact of political landscapes of Europe and beyond, where the response to the complexities, diversity and expansion of our communities, continues to be met with the power play of fear-mongering, discrimination and exclusion; where our borders become our protectors and our heritage our place of sanctuary.
Through a new and dynamic partnership, CONTESTED DESIRES connects six innovative arts and cultural organisations across the global north and south. Led by D6: Culture in Transit (UK) they include La Bonne (Spain), LAC (Portugal), Xarkis (Cyprus) and Fresh Milk (Barbados). ECCOM (Italy), cultural experts in the field of interdisciplinary practice, will develop a unique capacity building and evaluation strand to the project, in association with the writer and researcher, François Matarasso.
CONTESTED DESIRES is supported by Creative Europe, and as a legacy of the European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018, uses the positive forces of co-operation and co-production to address the ‘authenticity’ and values of the heritage we share.
ARTIST BRIEF
CONTESTED DESIRES will engage nine exceptional artists (from the UK, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and the Caribbean) to participate in this ambitious and collaborative project from January 2020 until September 2021. This call is for 2 UK artists from the North of England encompassing the North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber regions. D6 particularly welcomes applications from artists whose practice and lived experience reflect the themes of CONTESTED DESIRES.
(For our partners’ calls, please see: La Bonne, Spain; LAC, Portugal; Xarkis, Cyprus; and Fresh Milk, Barbados.)
Please note: CONTESTED DESIRES will also release a future call for a complimentary artist film and video programme, which will be open to artists beyond the geographies of the partners to submit existing works that connect to the themes of CONTESTED DESIRES.
Working closely with producers, cultural experts and communities across a variety of local contexts, each North of England Artist will have the opportunity to be part of a programme of interrelated activities across several partner countries including research, training, symposia and the production and presentation of new work in site-specific contexts and online.
Each selected artist will participate in the following activities:
- X 1 month-long European-based residency in Spain or Portugal (to be decided by the partnership), concluding with an exhibition/ presentation of work in progress. This will be a joint residency alongside two other visiting artists from the partners’ countries.
- X 3 capacity building workshops in Portugal, Spain and the UK;
- X 1 digital training lab in the UK;
- Online presentation including the participation in a digital lab (May 2021, UK);
- X 1 group residency and final exhibition of work in site-specific settings as part of the Xarkis Festival (Polystipos, Cyprus) in 2021;
- Evaluation (as directed).
TIMELINE of activities for participating UK artists
Each artist must be available to participate in and commit to all activities listed. The selected UK artists will participate in either the joint residency in Portugal or Spain and the final group residency in Cyprus. Please identify at application stage if you are not able to participate in any of these activities.
January 2020
CONTESTED DESIRES Artists announced
February 2020
Capacity building workshop 1 hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal). Theme: Cultural Genealogies
An exploration of the genealogies of cultural heritage and their value in contemporary culture - How do we identify and map these connections? Are they valued? Who owns this heritage? How is this impacting societal change and intercultural dialogue?
February - March 2020
Joint residency 1 for three artists (one UK), hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal).
March - April 2020
Joint iterative exhibition by three resident artists, hosted by LAC (Lagos, Portugal).
June 2020
Capacity building workshop 2 hosted by D6: Culture in Transit (North East England).
Theme: Statecraft
An exploration of the construct of the nation state the workshop will consider: How do we navigate statecraft? How do we tell our histories and stories that represent inextricable connections globally? How and why do value systems change?
November 2020
Capacity building workshop 3 hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
Theme: Gender equality in Cultural Heritage
An exploration of gender equality issues considering issues such as access, participation and representation of women in the heritage narratives; the role of women as artists, and women in the cultural labour market.
February 2021
Joint residency 3 for three artists (one UK), hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
March - April 2021
Joint iterative exhibition by three resident artists, hosted by La Bonne (Barcelona, Spain).
May 2021
Digital training and production lab for all artists and producers, hosted by D6: Culture in Transit (North East England).
August 2021
Group residency for all artists and final exhibition of work in site-specific settings as part of the Xarkis Festival (Polystipos, Cyprus). And launch of all artists’ digital works online.
ARTIST FEE
The total fee for the work described in the brief is € 6,305,00, for which the artist is expected to participate fully in the programme. In addition to the artist fee, CONTESTED DESIRES will cover travel, accommodation and a daily per diem/catering for subsistence for international travel. Payment will be made according to an agreed schedule and on receipt of invoices.
The selected UK artists will each be provided a contract and will be managed by D6: Culture in Transit. All copyrights for the work produced will remain with the artist.
Please note:
There is a limited and finite transportation budget for the shipping of artworks. Selected artists will be asked to consider the mobility of their work.
D6 has an ambition to offer additional work to selected UK artists, in the UK and in addition to the activity above subject to pending funding applications.
HOW TO APPLY
CONTESTED DESIRES will be developed in response to the context of each place. Therefore, we are not looking for artists to submit fixed ideas or resolved project proposals in their application.
To apply, please complete an application form (available to download here) and send to [email protected]. Your application should be a single PDF or Word Document no larger than 15MB and must include:
- Contact details
- An artist statement (250 words maximum)
- An outline of how you would like to approach the themes of CONTESTED DESIRES (350 words maximum)
- A brief CV (2 sides of A4 maximum)
- Up to 3 examples of relevant previous projects that demonstrate the quality of your practice and relevance to the selection criteria (below). For each project, please submit up to 2 images (or a URL for video/sound work) and a maximum 150 word description
Application opens: WEDNESDAY 16th OCTOBER 2019
Application closes: MONDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2019, 6PM GMT
Shortlisted applicants will be notified by: WEDNESDAY 27th NOVEMBER 2019
Selected applicants will be notified by: TUESDAY 10th DECEMBER 2019
All selection decisions are final.
Equality and Diversity
D6 seeks to ensure that no present or potential member of staff, artist or project participant is treated less favourably than another on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, age, social class or offending background. We aim to ensure that as many of our activities are as accessible as possible. If you have any particular access needs you would like to discuss, please contact us at [email protected].
ABOUT D6
D6 is an established visual arts producer, which for over 28 years has delivered transnational programmes working with extraordinary artists and intrepid partners to create works of art within neighbourhoods and public spaces. Our projects draw threads between communities to reveal the stories that make us who we are.
From the intimate to the spectacular, the artwork we produce is presented as part of public programmes, festivals and community events in our city, region and further afield. We regularly draw on the theme of home and migration and we are interested in the ideological, emotional, physical and virtual spaces where communities meet.
D6 is a portal to the rest of the world, where cultures meet and exchange and where artists and ideas come together to reveal our complex, surprising and interconnecting lives.
www.d6culture.org
SELECTION CRITERIA
Artists will be selected on the following criteria:
- Response to the brief;
- Quality of visual arts practice;
- Experience/ approach of engaging innovatively with local communities through collaborative/ participatory methods;
- Interest in the role of contemporary visual arts in heritage contexts, with particular reference to the themes of the programme.
We welcome applications from artists with experience of presenting work both within and outside traditional gallery settings, and who are able to navigate multi-partnered projects in an open and collaborative way.
English is the primary language across the CONTESTED DESIRES programme. However, artists must be able to demonstrate ways of communicating effectively with speakers of other languages as part of the development, production and presentation of CONTESTED DESIRES.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please contact Andrea Carter, Lead Producer at D6: Culture in Transit/ [email protected]
This project has been co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
