SUMMARY

Artists and other creative professionals are invited to submit a proposal for the 2010 Reasons to Live in a Small Town project – an unusual residency and public art project facilitated by the Visual Arts Network of South Africa with the support of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). A substantial budget has been allocated for the realisation of innovative temporary and permanent artworks and creative interventions, including artist fees, residency costs, production costs and technical assistance. A curatorial team has been convened around the project comprised of experienced public art practitioners from around the country.

 

BACKGROUND/CONCEPT

The project is concerned with creatively reimagining the public spaces of small rural towns and contexts, and exploring and reflecting on the meaning of the 2010 phenomenon in the context of places and communities which exist at the margins of this global spectacle.

 

The project will involve the realisation of creative interventions in public space broadly related to the 2010 event through a rigorous and intensive process of engagement between artists and the complex environments of South African small towns. Five artists will live and work in five different small towns/rural contexts across the country for an extended period of research and project development, culminating in temporary interventions in public spaces. These temporary interventions – and the manner in which local communities generate meaning from them - will serve as a basis for the development of permanent artworks that draw on and interact dynamically with the historical and contemporary experience of these communities, to be completed by February/March 2011. Participating artists will also contribute toward the development of a publication that will document the process of project development and realisation.

 

The intention is to use public art practice as a tool for creative reflection on the meaning of 2010 in contexts isolated from the urban centres in which the event will achieve its greatest impacts and intended benefits. The 2010 event will be used as a prism for creating artworks which engage with the internal dynamics of these communities drawing on a rich reservoir of ideas suggested by the global football spectacle; for example: games and sports as metaphors for society, politics and the economy; the mechanics and aesthetic qualities of sports and games; the figure of the sports hero; the local vs the global.

 

Projects will seek to create unique and meaningful experiences in these locations, generating artworks that place these places at the ‘centre’ of the 2010 experience, and creating new narratives that bring people together and promote new kinds of engagement with public space.

 

KEY PROPOSAL ELEMENTS

Your submission should include the following key elements, and should not be more than six pages in length, excluding any images and annexed material:

 

Concept (not more than half a page, excluding images)

A brief summary of the overall concept for the project and the rationale for developing this concept in the particular context

Context (not more than 1.5 pages, excluding images)

A brief description of the small town/rural context where the project will happen, which clarifies the nature of your interest in and connection to the context for the project

Process/Methods (not more than 1 page, excluding images)

An outline of the planned process/approach for developing and realising the project, including provision for research, documentation and reflection

Implementation Plan (not more than 1.5 pages)

An outline of planned activities, timeframes and an indication of resources required for each activity. (Detailed budgets not necessary)

Supplementary Material (not more than 5 additional pages)

You are welcome to include any additional visual material or texts that clarify your concept or provide more detailed information about the context for your project.

 

KEY PARAMETERS

·         Projects should involve a period of living and working in the chosen rural context for the purposes of research and project development

·         For the purposes of the project, a small rural town would be anywhere outside of major urban centres (and their suburbs and townships) that does not have more than 25 000 people in living in the town and immediate surrounds

·         Projects should be developed in relationship with the context, and involve a research and development component – i.e. not pre-packaged ideas that are simply ‘helicoptered’ in

·         Projects should involve temporary interventions as a basis for the development of permanent artworks or interventions

·         Permanent works may take a variety of forms, from traditional public sculpture through to creative interventions that do not necessarily have a fixed physical form – but which do continue beyond the period of the project

·         Projects should be realised between September 2010 and February/March 2011

 

KEY CRITERIA

Submission will be judged according to the following key criteria:

-          Clarity of Concept, Process and Methods

-          Innovation in Concept, Process, Materials and Methods

-          Relevance to the brief for the project

-          Technical Feasibility

 

WORKSHOPS

Briefing workshops are also being convened across the country to provide interested artists with an opportunity to find out more about the project and develop their proposal writing skills. Dates are as follows:

·         Johannesburg - 17 and 18 July
·         Bloemfontein  - 21 and 22 July
·         Cape Town- 23 and 24 July
·         Durban – 28 and 29 July 

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops please email 2010reasons@vansa.co.za or phone 011 833 7908.

 

SUBMIT TO:

Submit proposals to   2010reasons@vansa.co.za OR phone: 011 833 7908 to find out where you can send a hard copy in your area if you don’t have access to email. The Deadline for the Submission of Proposals is August 20 2010.

 

For project updates, FAQs, etc please visit www.gautengvansa.co.za.