October 3–November 17, 2016
Up until November 17, 2016, artists from the Global South and from Portuguese-speaking countries can enter their new or existing artworks in any language or theme to participate in the 20th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil. The curators in charge of artist selection will choose as many as 50 artists to take part in art shows, video screenings, performances, meetings with artists, public program activities, educational actions, and publication launches set to take place during the Festival.
The featured artists and groups will compete for two types of prizes designated by two different juries. For the first time, the Festival will award three Acquisition Awards to artists with video works, each for a total sum of 25,000 BRL (subject to tax in accordance with the current Brazilian legislation). The works will become part of the Sesc Brazilian Art Collection. An international jury of contemporary art professionals will indicate the Acquisition Awards.
Another jury of delegates of the Festival’s residency institutions partners will grant five Artistic Residency Prizes to be used in the two years after the Festival (January 2018 / September 2019), for a period of eight weeks, in artistic residency institutions that are partners of the Festival. Airfare, accommodation, and per diems are included. Works contemplated with Artistic Residency Prizes will become part of the Videobrasil Collection.
20th Festival artist residencies
Relationships with local environment and community are the focus of A-I-R Laboratory, the residency program of the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Poland, which encourages artists to present their work at public spaces, for increased involvement from the local population.
At the residency program of the Kyoto Art Center, in Japan, various art genres come together to connect with the city’s tradition and the heavily technological and industrial daily lives of its citizens.
In Salvador, Brazil, Residence Vila Sul, offered by Goethe-Institut, focuses on the South America-Africa connection and on conceptualizing the Global South, featuring ideal facilities for exhibitions and activities in various formats.
Cultural exchange between artists, the university community, and the public are the targets of the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, affiliated with the Ohio State University, underscoring its commitment to feeding creative expression through its residency program.
Finally, Res Artis, an association devoted to fostering artist residencies with over 500 collaborators in more than 70 countries, will enable, for the first time, a collaboration with a Caribbean institution, yet to be confirmed.
Who can participate
The 20th Festival accepts applications by artists or groups of artists who were born or reside for five years or more in the countries belonging to the Global South and countries of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). For this open call, the macro-region at hand will comprise countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (except Japan), Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries—the latter being one of the new additions to this 20th edition. Apart from Brazil, the CPLP comprises: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.
Free online registration open until November 17: www.videobrasil.org.br/opencall