Swedish artists are hereby invited to submit proposals for 6 EUROS budget: Artistic practices and precariousness. A collaborative exhibition between Spanish and Swedish artists that will take place in Supermarket Art Fair at Kulturhuset (Stockholm, Sweden).

With this call, we want to convey that although much of our society has adopted the idea that art and artists are economically prosperous; this is on the contrary a more and more precarious context. It is also important to draw attention to the need to change these circumstances, and develop more flexible working structures that support creativity and observe more closely the needs and realities of contemporary artists. We see this open call as a proposal to increase the awareness of this situation, of the need to denounce it and to improve it if we want to be able to think the present.
A first edition of this project, took place in Off Limits, Madrid (2010). The aim of this second edition is to generate a debate around the Spanish and the Swedish artistic context.


OPEN CALL TEXT

Cabello/Carceller. A creative demand

What position do we artists occupy in the current social context? Where does art stand in it? Those of us who believe that art is still necessary today can’t help but wonder why cultural institutions avoid art production and designate almost their entire budget for cultural management and heritage conservation. Art centers try to maintain their exhibitions schedules in order to continue being funded by public money and to justify their standing before potential voters. But they do not provide the proper conditions for art production and research; nor do they take into account the artists themselves when calculating artistic production. When they do, artists are paid so little with relation to their actual work/time investment that they are transformed into an endless trainee, forced into continuous precariousness. When you examine this situation from a distance, sometimes it seems that our administrators prefer to live in and fantasize about the past rather than reflect on and act for the present. Moreover, the existing gap between the funds used to purchase and exhibit art from outside contexts (including its production in some cases) as opposed to art produced within them, creates an imbalance. Is it fear of creative freedom and its consequences? Maybe.... Because where there is freedom there is change....

But “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”… maybe we could say that, based on this situation, artists are developing a new genre of art – one better suited to the current economic crisis – which ironically gives a different meaning to the term “art povera”, a more literal one.

With this call for art, we want to convey that although much of our society has adopted the idea that art and artists are economically prosperous; this is on the contrary a more and more precarious context. However, it is important to point out that we are not facing a creative crisis, but rather, a chronic budget crisis. The few structural changes that are taking place are not up to the standards of the democratization of art practices that we have seen in previous decades nor do they hold up against the current complex circumstances. We believe that it is possible to work in difficult conditions and that when you have something to say, it can be done with next to nothing. It is important to transmit that we have the ability to generate projects and ideas, even under less favorable conditions. But it is also important to draw attention to the need to change these circumstances, and develop more flexible working structures that support creativity and observe more closely the needs and realities of contemporary artists. We see this open call as a proposal to increase the awareness of this situation, of the need to denounce it and to improve it if we want to be able to think the present.

GUIDELINES

1. Object.

The object of this call is the selection of a minimum of 6 artistic projects to be exhibit in Supermarket Art Fair as part of a collaborative exhibition called “Budget: 6 Euros: Artistic practices and precariousness”.
The exhibition will consist of proposals developed by Spanish artists in its first edition in Madrid and others of Swedish artists selected from this call.

2. Target audience.

Individual artists and artistic groups can take part in this call.

Applications are submitted digitally. The projects, with a maxim length of 5 sheets should include:
* A brief summary of the project (10 lines).
* Name and personal details of the sender to contact.
* Detailed description of the project with the necessary supporting graphic information.
* Detailed production bugdet. The maxim production that will be provided to each selected project will be 6€. (Project´s production cost can’t exceed 6€ and its staging should be easy without using elements that could increase the production value).
* Submissions are presented digitally with all the information specified in the previous points in pdf format (texts in doc, videos in avi or mov, sounds in wave or mp3, images in high definition_300pp).

3. Works’ characteristics.

* The subject matter will be free. Submitted artworks may fall into a wide range of genres associated with art, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, video, film, performance, design, craft, animation, sound and new media.
* Projects should be unpublished.

4. Receipt.

Submissions will be sent to the following e-mail address: maelstrom@offlimits.es before December, 31st.
For additional information please contact:
María Ibáñez. Kulturproduktion
Spanska Ambassaden
Djurgårdsvägen 21, 115 21
Stockholm
Tel.: 46 (0) 8 522 80 815


5. Decision.

The jury that will select the projects to be exhibit will be composed by Cabello/Carceller (Spanish curators) and Estelle af Malmborg (Swedish curator).
* The call will be resolved before January 15th, 2012.
* The selected projects will be announced to their authors through the e-mail address specified in the contact details of the call.
* The call could be not awarded.


Cabello/Carceller is an artists’ team formed by Helena Cabello and Ana Carceller. They have worked together since 1993, and have expanded their artistic practice through collaborative writing, critical theory, teaching and curatorship. More info

Supermarket Art Fair is an international art fair created and managed by artists. Artist-run galleries and similar artists' initiatives exhibit the latest tendencies in art. The focus is on the meeting between audience, art and artists from around the world as much as the exhibition itself. More info

Off Limits is an independent cultural space in Madrid that proposes different ways of changing contemporary reality. Its object is to strengthen and promote contemporary artistic creation, to approach contemporary plastic arts to a wide audience and to make easier the development of experimental initiatives. More info

This project is promoted by Off Limits and the Spanish Embassy in Stockholm. With the support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Supermarket Art Fair.