- ACCELERATOR is the most complex mentoring programme designed for Romanian emerging artists.
- 18 months of extensive mentoring for 10 contemporary emerging artists, selected by an international jury following an Open Call
- Know-how from international mentors
- Resources for the production of new artworks and a group exhibition organised at Gaep gallery
- Presentation opportunities in various locations of 4 cities
- The project is financed with the support of EEA Grants 2014 – 2021 within the RO-CULTURE Programme and is implemented by Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus (ACEP).
Bucharest, February 2022 – Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus (ACEP) launches today the programme ACCELERATOR. Mentoring and production for emerging artists in Romania.
ACCELERATOR is a multi-faceted programme, which offers those 10 emerging artists who will be selected, know-how from Romanian and international mentors, resources for the production of new artworks and presentation opportunities in various spaces in Bucharest and 3 other Romanian cities.
The programme is shaped as an incubator that facilitates and promotes a strategic approach by the artists on their careers.
During 18 months of mentoring, ACCELERATOR proposes tangible theoretical and practical activities, which complement the knowledge provided by the formal Romanian education, focused mainly on teaching methods of artistic creation.
‘ACCELERATOR is a project I longed to implement. Having interacted plenty with art professionals and artistic systems from Romania and abroad, the challenges of emerging artists are familiar to me. There are solutions to support them. Therefore, ACCELERATOR is designed as a complete ecosystem which aims to support the development of their careers. With an entrepreneurial touch, the project invites the artists, by the means of various specific activities, to explore a strategic approach on their careers. We kick off, wishing that, by the end of the project, the selected artists will have felt this experience brought them one step forward in their careers.’ – Andrei Breahnă, president of Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus and ACCELERATOR Project Manager
The programme fosters the individual and collaborative artistic practice, proactivity and sharing between the participating artists and the enthusiastic wider public.
The project partners are i8 Gallery, renowned for collaborating on a long-term basis with internationally recognized artists, and Gaep Gallery, based in Bucharest.
‘i8 Gallery is a proud partner in The ACCELERATOR program, initiated by Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus. The career of each artist is lined with a number of frustrations that can easily be avoided by professionally presenting their works and avoiding many pitfalls that drain the energy and distract the artists from what is important. It is our hope that, through the mentorship program, we can give constructive criticism to emerging artists within Romania and give helpful advice to further their career and practice.’ – Þorlákur Einarsson, Director i8 Gallery
ACCELERATOR began on October 1, 2021, and will be rolled-out for 24 months, until September 30, 2023. The programme budget is 1,069,301.00 LEI (216,707.74 EUR) for its entire duration. The non-refundable value of the financing (85% EEA Grants and 15% national budget) is 962,370.90 de lei (195,036.97 euro).
ACCELERATOR is financed with the support of EEA Grants 2014-2021 within the RO CULTURA Programme and is implemented by Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus.
ACCELERATOR – Stages of the project:
Open call -> Mentoring -> Group exhibition -> Public art
10 Romanian emerging artists will be selected after an Open Call.
Following an Open Call, 10 Romanian emerging artists will be selected to take part and benefit from the programme. The Open Call will in the first weeks of March. The Jury who will assess the artists’ applications will include well-known contemporary art personalities from Romania and abroad.
The mentoring stage starts in the 2nd quarter of 2022.
The partnership with i8 Gallery will grant participants unparalleled access to well-known mentors and artists who will transfer their know-how and expertise. Six contemporary art professionals from Romania and Iceland will be mentors for the 10 participating artists.
Through 6 workshops and one-to-one mentoring sessions, Accelerator will provide the artists with specific knowledge on topics such as: the collaboration between artists and galleries, the functioning of different types of organisations in the contemporary art field, design and production of publications, artist statement development.
Resources and presentation opportunities – the group exhibition will host the new artworks produced by the emerging artists.
The emerging artists will be granted access to the resources needed to produce new artworks and will constantly collaborate with a curator along the production process. They will have the opportunity to show their work in the group exhibition that will be organised by Gaep Gallery. The exhibition will take place at the beginning of 2023.
The production of artworks for public art will start in 2023.
A key characteristic of Accelerator is public art. The programme drives new thinking about art in public spaces as context-specific, rather than simply site-specific. Thus, the works produced by the emerging artists will integrate contextual frameworks reflecting the culture, values, concerns, interests, and the lifestyle of certain communities.
Given its scale, Accelerator offers emerging artists the opportunity to show their public artworks in public spaces from Bucharest and 3 other Romanian cities.
Engage with audiences
Deepening relationships with audiences will be achieved by the means of many contemporary art events, the group art exhibition held at Gaep gallery, the conference of a well-known artist from Iceland, screenings and artist talks and public art. The selected 10 artists will connect with the public through offline cultural mediation activities (guided tours) and tech-enabled online channels, on our website or and on social media.
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The EEA Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards the reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe and towards strengthening the bilateral relations between the donor countries and the 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA Grants amount to €1.55 billion. More information is available on www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro.
RO-CULTURE Programme is implemented in Romania by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit. The Programme aims at strengthening social and economic development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship and cultural heritage management. The total budget amounts to almost 34 million EUR. For more details access: www.ro-cultura.ro.
About ACEP
Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus promotes contemporary art at national and international level through exhibitions, cultural and educational projects conducted in partnership with key cultural institutions. Since it was launched, 7 years ago, ACEP received financing for the production of artworks; organised over 30 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 national and international art fairs and developed projects for children and for the employees in corporations, interested in contemporary art.
About i8
i8 Gallery was founded in Reykjavik in 1995 and represents an eclectic mix of Icelandic and international contemporary artists. As well as representing 23 artists, the gallery collaborates with a number of artists all of whom have exhibited widely in museum and gallery contexts.
Contact person:
Ana-Ilinca Macri
Cultural mediator
0723 408 816
ilinca.macri@eastwardsprospectus.com
https://accelerator-mentorat.ro
Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus