Call for artists: ‘Come Together’ Arts Festival, Cyprus

‘COME TOGETHER’ PERFORMING & VISUAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2022

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Open Call for Artists

CLOSED

Submission Deadline: 21 March 2022
Festival dates: November 2022 (dates TBC)
Workshop dates: April – October 2022

The Festival

Sharq.Org is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of pluralism and the development of appreciation for individual experiences, dialogue and community. This inaugural edition of what we hope will become an annual festival aims to play host to individual voices, collective action and dialogue that nurtures, and to enhance togetherness through the erasure of otherness.

The festival schedule will be made up of presentations of visual and performance pieces at various venues in Larnaca, Cyprus, in November 2022 and will be preceded by a series of workshops (Apr-Oct) during which select artists (living anywhere on the island) will collaborate with members of the Larnaca community to produce the artistic pieces. This grassroots community approach to the production process will, we hope, provide artists with an opportunity to engage with and be inspired by the local community, in all its diversity, and will in turn encourage members of the community to enhance their sense of belonging and expression of identity.

The initiative ultimately utilizes creativity to facilitate the creation of an environment that promotes belonging and enhances and acknowledges the value of individual expression and community collaboration in building more just and joyful societies.

Festival Themes: Conflict, Migration, Identity, Belonging

The festival was born of Sharq.Org research into the nexus between conflict, migration, identity and belonging. These themes reflect the experiences and struggles of people living in or who have fled conflict zones, and impact people across the globe living in an increasingly interconnected world.

The people and processes involved in the production of the creative pieces – be they performance or visual – will reflect the themes and be documented throughout to facilitate the production and exchange of knowledge about the use of creativity in community building.

Moreover, the themes themselves should guide the artist in the conceptualization of the creative pieces that will be collaboratively produced with members of the community through workshops to be held in public spaces or at Sharq.Org’s studio in central Larnaca.

Below is a list of questions to motivate artists to think about the themes but is by no means exhaustive. Any concept that addresses the interconnectedness of conflict, migration, identity and belonging is welcome.

What place do I occupy in society if where I occupy is not my home?
Why is my mind still conflicted after my body escaped conflict?
Does my identity belong to me, or do I belong to my identity?
How do my past, present and future shape and direct my roots?

Artistic Proposals

We invite Cyprus-based artists from across all performance and visual disciplines to conceptualise a creative piece (or series of pieces) that [a] reflects the themes of the festival and [b] can be collaboratively produced with members of the community through a series of workshops (of approx. 20 hours in total, to be delivered between April and October).

Outputs can include a play or dance performance (30-60 minutes), an installation art piece, a collection of artworks (canvas, photography, sculptures), a series of recited poems or talks, a short film or piece of music, anything that can be performed or exhibited in a physical space.

Community members do not need to perform in a proposed play or dance, but they must all be part of the production process, feeding into the script or choreography. We highly encourage artists to take advantage of the multitude of languages spoken within the Larnaca community.

Eligibility

Artists of any nationality based anywhere on the island of Cyprus may apply.
Artists must be able to dedicate themselves to running a series of workshops over a total of approx. 20 hours between April and October 2022 in Larnaca, and to be present during the festival in November.
Sharq.Org can facilitate communication between artists and community members in English, Greek and Arabic. As such all applicants must be able to communicate in at least one of these languages.

Financial & Logistical Support

If your proposal is selected, you will receive:

An honorarium of either €500 or €1,000 to cover your time and the costs of all materials
A workshop space in central Larnaca, for the delivery of the workshops; support promoting the workshops
An assistant to support the delivery of the workshops, coordination with participants and communication between the languages of English, Greek and Arabic
Promotion of the workshops through creation and publication of audio-visual and graphic posts on social media
Venue and equipment hire for performance / exhibition venue during festival
Promotion of the performance / exhibition leading up to and throughout the festival

Selection

Sharq.Org has the capacity to support up to six initiatives.

We anticipate selecting proposals from different artistic disciplines (e.g. painting, sculpture, dance, spoken word, theatre), but will ultimately choose based on quality of concept.

Applying

We have designed a simple application form and made it available in English, Greek and Arabic – the three working languages of Sharq.Org operations in Cyprus.

If you have any challenges completing the form, please email us at together@sharq.org

Application form outline:

Artistic discipline
- theatre, dance, poetry / spoken word, film, music, 2D artworks, sculptures, installation, other
A description of the anticipated work (max 1000 characters)
- We know that the concept may change somewhat once you start collaborating with the Larnaca community during the workshops but would like to know how you imagine the shape of the final piece
Relevance to the Festival Theme (max 1000 characters)
- How does the proposed work reflect the nexus between conflict, migration, identity and belonging.
Age range of community participants
- children (6-15), youths (15-21), adults, any/all
- You will create the piece collaboratively with community members. You can work with people of all ages (select all three below) or select one or two age groups that are better suited to work on your proposed initiative.
Requested honorarium
- Successful proposals will be supported with a financial grant of either €500 or €1,000. Artists working on productions solely or primarily during the hours of the workshops should request €500. If you anticipate spending significant time working on production outside the hours of the workshops and/or your production requires a significant budget for materials (canvases, paints, clay, stage set material, etc) you may request the larger honorarium. Please note that Sharq.Org will directly cover the cost of printing and equipment and venue hire needed for the presentation of the works during the festival.
Please describe your experience of training, mentoring and/or working collaboratively?
- We’re looking for people who can inspire small groups of diverse people in the collaborative creation of art. Are you a good team player? Can you lead and inspire?
Please tell us a little about your experience in the artistic discipline your proposal falls under (max 1000 characters)
- What creative initiatives have you participated in and in what capacity?
Links to artistic works you have produced
- So we can get an idea of your creative approach