Open call for Re-Directing: East Curatorial Residency

The Artists-In-Residence Laboratory at the CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw invites art professionals such as curators, organisers, researchers and art managers to apply for a one-month long residency. The notion of “re-directing” refers here to a need to facilitate collaborations in-between art initiatives, which due to geopolitical conditions hasn’t had many opportunities to collaborate thus far. The Re-Directing: East Curatorial Residency is a peer-learning workshop, a curatorial seminar, extended site exploration and a research opportunity for a group of four to six individuals together with the CCA team and local participants. The participants are expected to share their experience and understanding of respective artistic and socio-political contexts, as well as to prepare themselves for participation in this year’s exploration of the topic “The Making of Collective Agencies.” This curatorial residency is a platform for developing a possible working collaboration with the CCA Ujazdowski Castle and other parties concerned in the years to come.

During the month long residency we want to (self) reflect on the curatorial practices that take place outside of formal institutions and which draw inspiration from critical, social, and collective modes of action for the commonwealth. The starting point will be to look at examples of social practices (e.g. cooperative work, like the Indonesian “gotong royong,” or the already non-existent Polish “communal work,” which has been replaced by modern forms of the “exchange platforms”), artistic (e.g. activities supporting the self-governance of artistic circles and also “alternative” institutions and forms of presentation and creation of art) and beyond, or post-artistic practices within politics, economics, and social life (protests, cultural resistance, informal education). We will utilize the presentations as well as the experiences of the participants to talk about the different strategies and consequences of entangling curatorial and artistic practices in collective actions and implementing within their frames political commentary regarding the position of specific collectives. The question of who and what collectives are, on behalf of those and within the frames of those which artistic statements are created will constitute another important issue.
 
The month long residencies: July 18–August 17, 2016
Submission deadline: February 28, 2016
The results will be announced by April 8, 2016

Selection will be based on the professional excellence of the applicant’s work and their plans for sharing the benefits of the exchange with artists and institutions in their home country / site of activities. Due to the programme agenda aiming at creating collaboration opportunities beyond the already existing cultural policies, we do not accept applications from individuals residing and working within the EU. Applicants must have sufficient knowledge of English to function independently and communicate with the A-I-R Laboratory staff and other residents.

We will be offering:
–Individual living space connected with the working space
–A grant of 3200 PLN / approx. 800 USD
–Reimbursement of travel costs
–Organizing a customised programme of lectures, presentations and study visits in Warsaw and beyond
–Organizing the final seminar including participants’ presentations created collaboratively during the residency
Please note that we do not cover visa fees or the insurance costs required for visa application.

How to apply
Please send an electronic version of your application in one document to the e-mail: air.opencall [​at​] gmail.com—preferred format: pdf (in English). The application document should include:
1. professional work experience in the form of a portfolio containing a description of maximum five projects
2. a cover letter
3. a paper proposal (max. 300 words). This should describe the presentation subject which you would like to develop in relation to this year’s topic “The Making of Collective Agencies.” The presentation will contribute to the seminar during the RDE residency.
4. your CV.
Please label the portfolio as follows: your surname_your name_application.pdf.

The project is implemented with financial support from the City of Warsaw.