PCAI Residency 2019: open call

How can the contemporary way of living become more sustainable or resilient?
In which manner does the topic of hazardous waste and its cruciality concern our everyday life?
Can we expand the environmental agenda through science and art?
Can contemporary art and moving image sensitize their audience over issues of environmental protection?

Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative (PCAI) is excited to announce the launch of its Artist-in-Residence program focusing on the interaction between contemporary art and environmental consciousness. Believing that art is the best way to stimulate dialogue about sustainable thinking and the crucial matter of toxic waste PCAI invites artists from all over the world to reside for a week in Athens, get inspired and create a video work on the topic. 

During the residency the selected artist will be able to perform research, draw inspiration from local waste management sites and facilities, interact with scientists involved in the waste handling process, meet other Athens-based visual artists, curators and environmental experts and exchange ideas and opinions. 

The produced video work (max. duration 30') will be presented in exhibitions in Athens and abroad the forthcoming year.
 

Timeline
Application deadline: June 15, 2019

Shortlisted selection until November 15, 2019

Final selection announced on January 15, 2020

Residency duration March 16-22, 2020

Work production 4 months upon completion of the residency

Stipend
The selected applicant will receive the amount of EUR 5,000 covering production costs. In addition to that, travel and accommodation expenses will be covered. 

Application details
To apply visit the LINK and fill in the application form

For any questions contact: info@pcai.gr

Selection committee
Athanasios Polychronopoulos, PCAI Director and Founder
Kika Kyriakakou, PCAI Residency Artistic Director
Krist Gruijthuijsen, KW Institute for Contemporary Art KUNST-WERKE BERLIN e. V. Director
More to be announced soon

More about Polyeco Contemporary Art Initiative (PCAI)
Polyeco  Contemporary Art Initiative (PCAI), was founded in 2014 by Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Polyeco Group Executive Chairman, as a result of his genuine belief that art is the best tool to stimulate dialogue about critical environmental issues. Since September 2018 PCAI has been a member of the International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art IACCCA and was recently awarded for its “Use of Art as a Means to Stimulate Dialogue about Critical Environmental Issues“ in the 2018 Corporate Art Awards in the European Parliament in Brussels.

PCAI  implements its objectives though three areas of activity:  its Collection, its Projects and its Support. The PCAI Collection is based on special commissions mainly of moving image art; artworks inspired by urgent environmental issues in their broader relation to current sociocultural, economic, philosophical concerns. The PCAI Collection includes commissioned works by artists such as  Mika Rottenberg (Kurt Schwitters Prize 2018), Sophia Al-Maria (inaugural winner of the Dunya Contemporary Art Prize), Wu Tsang (Sharjah Biennial), Angelo Plessas (documenta 14) and George Drivas (57th Venice Biennale) amongst others. The Projects and the Support sections are all the activities and events (special commissions, exhibitions, publications, educational programs and workshops) organized by PCAI around its growing commissioned based Collection. On this occasion PCAI has partnered or been connected with institutions and organizations such as Loop Barcelona, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, the National Museum of Contemporary Art EMST, Athens, the Rotterdam Film Festival and so on.

In 2017 PCAI's first commissioned only exhibition, Paratoxic Paradoxes (curator Nadja Argyropoulou), took place in the Benaki Museum in Athens. In 2018, in the context of the Resilient Futures exhibition (curator Syrago Tsiara), PCAI collaborated with the State Museum of Contemporary Art of Thessaloniki and the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki. Fully aware of its social role PCAI has also been dedicated to organising and implementing educational programs in Greece and abroad; specifically designed to raise environmental awareness through digital art PCAI's educational platform was awarded during the 2018 ISWA Conference in Kuala Lumpur.