[rohrpost] Civic Media Lab 2017 - Open Call

Mi Apr 12 10:29:41 CEST 2017

Civic Media Lab 2017 
2nd edition “Free speech! Free action!” 
Dnipro, Ukraine, June 3-11, 2017

OPEN CALL FOR ARTIST PROPOSALS 

Application deadline: April 23, 2017
Kultura Medialna announces an open call for artists for participation in the second edition of the project Civic Media Lab “Free speech! Free action!” that will take place in June 2017 in Dnipro, Ukraine. The project offers selected participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine a residency opportunity for conducting artistic research and creating new works and projects. All works will be presented at the annual international festival of audiovisual art and new media in urban space “Construction” conducted by Kultura Medialna in June 2017. 

Civic Media Lab is an ongoing project initiated in 2016 as a vibrant transregional network of artists, curators, researchers and activists from EU and former USSR countries for creating unconventional dialogue and stimulating long-term collaborations between art and culture professionals interested in contributing to the civil society in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Eastern Europe. 

The theme of the second edition of Civic Media Lab is freedom of media and expression in transforming societies. In the era of information wars, ‘alternative facts’, expansion of multiple propagandistic discourses and increase of censorship in the arts at the global level, we want to gather artistic practices and stimulate artistic projects that deal with freedom of speech and expression on many levels and help connecting artists from different countries despite the political tensions between and within them. The project “Free speech! Free action!” represents an alternative broadcasting channel and a space for reflection upon current sociopolitical issues important for all the participants - from equal human rights to freedom of press, from the role of art in a society in transition to resistance against the challenging of democratic regimes. “Free speech! Free action!” serves as an expanding platform for communication, exchange and cutting-edge artistic, activist and curatorial practices dealing with the subject of free media and information in the public realm including the virtual space. Dnipro, the largest city near the zone of the military conflict in Ukraine, was chosen as a location for the project deliberately. By inviting artists to work closely with the city’s local context we encourage connections between different people that we believe should remain in touch despite the political contradictions and manipulative media narratives. 

Civic Media Lab invites artists working with different medium (video, media, sound) and formats (interactive installations, public performances) to submit their proposals. Eight selected participants will be invited to work on the realization of their projects in Dnipro, Ukraine during short-term residencies (up to 10 days) in May and June 2017. Created projects will be presented at the “Construction” festival that will take place in Dnipro from June 3 to 11, 2017. We are especially encouraging proposals exploring and testing new aesthetic and conceptual approaches in digital art and public spaces. 

In addition to residencies Civic Media Lab will also organize workshops and artist talks as well as a symposium, where a wide specter of emerging artistic and curatorial practices dealing with physical and virtual public space will be discussed. 

Civic Media Lab covers:
- travel costs to Dnipro (optional two times)
- subsistence costs (guest flat during the residency before the festival, and guest flat during the festival plus per diem)
- residency and artist fee (approx. 550 EUR)
- production and material costs (up to 650 EUR)

Participating artists are expected to:
- Create a new piece on site in Dnipro during a 10-day residency in May or June (dates will be discussed with each participant separately)
- Present your project at the CONSTRUCTION FESTIVAL (between June 3rd and 11th) 
- Participate in artist talks, public discussions and the final symposium

Eligible Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine

To apply please submit your application to: submission2017 at civicmedialab.eu

Application form can be downloaded here:
http://civicmedialab.eu/2017/#cfpcml

CML 2017 “Free Speech! Free Action!” is co-curated by Maria Veits and Stephan Franck.

Maria Veits is an independent curator and researcher, cofounder of the Creative Association of Curators TOK. TOK conducts multidisciplinary research-based projects dealing with concept and use of public space, urban communities, social practice, media and collaborations between arts and social sector. Maria currently works on an exhibition ‘Dreamland Never Found’ for Jerusalem Biennial and continuation of the project ‘Propaganda News Machine’ that will take place in summer in Helsinki 2017 and other projects dealing with current sociopolitical processes. She contributed to the CML 2016 as invited curator and speaker. Lives and works in St Petersburg and Tel Aviv. 

Stephan Franck is a Dresden based curator and creative consultant. He has worked since 2008 in the field of curating, publishing and consulting. He is co-founder of the Galerie Stephanie Kelly in Dresden and has contributed to CYNETART 2015 as artist director and curator. In 2016 he has organised the exhibition “potnia theron. the animal in art and science” in cooperation with University of Technology in Dresden. He also contributed last year in Civic Media Lab as both as an expert and curator. 

[ #CivicMediaLab #CivilSocietyCooperation #constructionfest #kulturamedialna ]

Civic Media Lab is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, and cooperatively organized by Kultura Medialna Dnipro & DS-X.org | depart.

further links:
[ http://civicmedialab.eu ]
[ http://constructionfest.com ]
[ http://kulturamedialna.org ]
[ http://depart.one ]

Civic Media Lab was initiated in 2016 by cultural managers Cornelia Reichel, Barbara Bernsmeier, Kathrin Oerters & Clemens A. Schöll, and Thomas Dumke.