Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus (ACEP) launches a new OPEN CALL for emerging artists, at national level, to apply to ACCELERATOR. ART IN PUBLIC SPACE programme.
The goal of ACCELERATOR. ART IN PUBLIC SPACE is to provide artists with insights and pragmatic solutions to effectively manage their career path and develop further on, through an entrepreneurial approach.
Application period: April 25th – May 29th, 2024, 23:59 hrs.
“From the experience of ACCELERATOR series’ projects previously implemented, we took away the fact that art in the public space is a very specific field, which requires an intensive and extensive approach, in order to provide artists with complete information that will be useful in their practice and future career. The current project relies, as the former ones did, on the structure: knowledge, resources and presentation opportunities – directions that focus exclusively on art in public space arena. Romania has embarked recently on this road. In Bucharest, compared to other capitals in the world, we have some catching up to do. But this only means that art in public space has a huge potential in our country.”- Andrei Breahnă, ACEP president and project manager
5 emerging artists will be selected by a professional jury, composed of Andrei Breahnă, cultural manager and president of Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus, Georgia Țidorescu, curator and programme coordinator, and Ioana Chira, manager, GAEP Gallery. Each artist will benefit from a fee of 10,000 lei gross, disbursed during the mentoring stage and during the production of works & presentation stage of the programme.
Participants will gain knowledge on topics such as: contemporary art system, the operation of a contemporary art organisation, production budgeting, setting prices, presenting practices and communicating to various audiences. They will also receive support in the production of the artworks to be presented in public places or site-specific.
From May to November 2024, the selected emerging artists will:
- Participate in 4 intensive face-to-face laboratories, held by 4 mentors specialized in: The system of contemporary art: the artist, part of an ecosystem; Art in the public space: how to coexist; Curating: artist-curator collaboration; PR, art-related communication and writing in the context of the artistic practice: the artist in relation to the general public.
- Participate in one-on-one mentoring sessions with the 4 mentors.
- Participate in the production of the digital content project “MEET THE ARTISTS”, a project dedicated to their professional work that will be published on the website: https://accelerator-mentorat.ro/.
- Produce site-specific artworks around the country on a topic decided together with the curator during the working groups.
The project is collaborative – aiming to build communities among artists and cultural professionals, develop audiences and build bridges with the general public through the art works presented. Thus, Accelerator addresses, once again, an acute need to increase public awareness in contemporary art, present especially in public spaces, which are still populated by classic works of art – statues or sculptures, at the expense of current, innovative artworks, anchored in current social topics in our everyday agenda.
Eligibility
The program accepts applications from artists who:
- Are emerging artists*
- Are over 21 years of age, with no requirement to have a degree
- Have a maximum of 10 years of continuous experience in the visual arts
- Have the possibility to participate in the workshops that will take place in Bucharest (June 2024)
- Have the possibility to participate in the meetings organized by the project team to exhibit the works made individually or in collaboration with other artists in the public space
- Are available to be involved in a mentoring and production of new works program for 5 months (June 2024 – October 2024), through physical and online participation in all activities carried out within the program, depending on how each stage is carried out
* By “emerging artists” we mean artists with less than 10 years of professional experience. We have opted for the term “emerging” instead of “young” because we also accept applications from those who have made a career change or decided to prioritize their artistic activity in recent years, regardless of age.
How to apply
Application files must include:
- CV
- Cover letter, reflecting the complexity of the ACCELERATOR. ART IN PUBLIC SPACE programme and the intentions of emerging artists in line with the structure of the project and the types of activities proposed (max. 400 words).
- A feasible project idea for the ACCELERATOR. ARTS IN PUBLIC SPACE programme to take place in a city in Romania and can be implemented by the artist.
- Artist’s portfolio with max. 10 works (max. file size: 20 MB; for video works, include links and, if necessary, passwords).
Files should be sent by email to accelerator@eastwardsprospectus.com.
Deadline: 29.05.2024, 23:59
Subject: Open call for emerging artists
We will send you an email confirming receipt of your application file.
If you have any questions about the application process, write to Georgia Țidorescu at accelerator@eastwardsprospectus.com
Key dates
- Registration: until 29.05.2024, 23:59
- Selection of participants: 30.05 – 5.06.2024
- Announcement of participants: 6.06.2024
- Workshops and physical meetings (in Bucharest): 17 – 20.06.2024
- One-to-one mentoring sessions (online): 8 – 12.07.2024
- Production of artworks: 1.07.2024 – 5.09.2024
- Start of series of activations of artworks in public space: 6.09.2024
- Period of the series of activations of works of art in public space: 6.09.2024 – 15.10.2024
“Accelerator. Mentoring and Art in the Public Space” is the 4th ACCELERATOR project, running from 2022-2024. In total, all Accelerator projects had the following results: 30 emerging artists benefited, over 250 applications, over 5500 people – audiences reached through direct interactions and over 19,000 people reached in online.
***
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.
About ACEP
Founded over 7 ago, Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus (ACEP) promotes contemporary art at national and international level by the means of implementing cultural and educational programmes. Through the ACCELERATOR series of projects, ACEP supports emerging artists in the development of their career path by offering them learning opportunities inspired from international approaches and practices. In addition, ACEP aims to deepen its efforts of training and developing new audiences by the means of activities organised in Bucharest and country-wide, both online and offline.
To date, Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus implemented 3 editions of Accelerator Mentoring program for emerging artists, cu finanțare financed by various institutions, while the current Accelerated, dedicated to publci art, is the 4th project.
ACEP received financing for the production of artworks; organised over 35 online and offline shows; supported an artistic intervention in public space of artist Tania Mouraud, held simultaneously in 9 cities; supported the participation of artists in over 25 national and international art fairs and developed projects for children and for the employees in corporations interested in contemporary art.
Thus, with the help of ACEP projects, art contributes to individual and collective progress – fulfilling its well-known role from older ages – to foster the evolution of society.