OPEN CALL: WE ONLY WANT THE EARTH RESIDENCY AWARD 2

We are absolutely delighted to announce our second residency award for our 2020 programme We Only Want the Earth!

We Only Want the Earth Artist Residency Award 2

A4 Sounds in partnership with Create: National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts and Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI) invite applications from artists who are seeking or have sought international protection in Ireland, for a four-month residency award as part of the We Only Want the Earth 2020 programme. The residency will run from May to August 2020. The residency opportunity aims to support an artist based in Ireland to develop their arts practice.

Application Deadline: 5pm, Thursday 5^th March 2020

About We Only Want the Earth

We are living through a time of sudden and unpredictable social change caused by interlinked issues of global warming, the collapse of the neoliberal order, a resurgence of violent misogyny and nationalism, growing inequality, housing and homelessness crises, and the growth of ecofascism. We Only Want the Earth is a 12-month programme of awards, exhibitions, and events that seeks to interrogate the goals and strategies of social change: what kind of society do we want and how should we get there?

More information about our programme here.

About the award

A central aim of the We Only Want the Earth programme is to give material support and a platform to artists who are often silenced, or who are spoken about rather than listened to. As part of meeting this aim, this 4-month residency award will support an artist who is seeking or has sought international protection in Ireland, to develop and exhibit a body of work, and will provide the selected artist with an opportunity to make contacts and identify resources that might help them to further develop their artistic practice.

Please note that the artist is free to work on any topic of their choosing; there is no requirement that the work deal with issues of seeking international protection or the direct provision system.

Proposals must respond to the theme ‘We Only Want the Earth’.

What the award offers

The award includes

• Free 24-hour access to studio space at A4 Sounds.
• A monthly stipend of €500 towards materials and residency costs (Total €2000).
• Artist fees of €690 for exhibiting a body of work and artist talks
• Access to a range of professional development, training and technical supports.
• Access to the facilities at A4 Sounds, including personal and shared workspace, sculpture workshop, photography darkroom, printing suite and equipment.
• Gallery space and a materials/exhibition budget of up to €1000 will be provided to support an exhibition or series of dissemination events during the last month of the residency.
• Access to all A4 Sounds public workshops and courses for the duration of the residency.

Throughout the residency, advice and mentorship will be provided by A4 Sounds technicians and curators, a dedicated community engagement worker, and representatives from Create (the national development agency for collaborative arts), Movement of Asylum Seekers Ireland (MASI), and our consulting artists.

Accommodation is available for the duration of the residency for an artist who would have to travel long distances to participate.

Aims & Expectations of the residency

The selected artist is expected to

• Be available to work from the studio for the duration of the residency. We understand that there are restrictions in place for artists living in direct provision. We will work with the successful artist to develop a manageable studio schedule.
• Participate in studio life and take full advantage of resources and learning opportunities availble.
• To disseminate their work in at least 2 ways.
• We will work with the successful artist to document their progress and ask that aspects of the documentation be made available to A4 for use.

Who is eligible?

We invite applications from artists who are seeking or have sought international protection in Ireland.

What what types of proposals are we seeking?

We invite radical, risk taking, bold, mischievous and political proposals. This is a visual arts award, but we welcome proposals from artists with multidisciplinary approaches where the proposed outcomes can be disseminated in a visual ways.

We are keen to hear from artists who use a wide range of approaches to explore their ideas; including but not limited to: conversations, protest, organising, writing, sound, food, performance, video, collaborations, media, sculpture, research, installation and print.

Accessibility

Unfortunately, the A4 Sounds studio building is not fully accessible. The studio space and bathrooms are accessed via a flight of stairs (approx 22 steps) which may provide difficulties for people with movement impairments. We understand that this may exclude some artists from applying for the award, and we apologise for this. We hope to source funding to make the building more accessible in future.

For more information about the award and how to apply please visit the residency 2 award page here!

We Only Want the Earth is kindly supported by The Arts Council’s Art Grant Funding Award 2020.