21.07.20
DIY: 2020 Open Call – Public realm as playground: towards a toolkit for earthly survival
As part of LADA's DIY: 2020 programme, see the following open call for artists whose practices use performance/live interventions in the public realm to take part in an intensive weekend workshop with artist Lydia Heath.
This DIY project uses performance informed by science fiction, magic, ritual and idiocy to explore how our relationship to the public realm has changed and will continue to change because of COVID-19. It invites participants to think through the wider global implications of this unprecedented situation, how we relate to each other and the spaces we share during times of global crisis.
Some of the questions this workshop might address are:
- How can we use our bodies to inhabit public spaces and explore our relationships to these spaces and each other during this time?
- How can lockdown/social distancing restrictions be a framework for these explorations?
- How can we stay curious, anonymous, playful during these restrictions?
- How can science fiction, magic, idiocy etc. come into play as resources to make sense of this unprecedented time?
- How might this disruption of business as usual (with its focus on productivity and consumption) inform what comes afterwards?
Throughout the workshop participants will collaboratively explore strategies for making performance in public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, as our relationship to and movement within these spaces shifts dramatically.
Working remotely within (or in the aftermath of) the limitations of lockdown/social distancing restrictions, artists are invited to develop shared methodologies for new ways of working, through a combination of online discussions and actions in public spaces - the results of which may inform the future production of a toolkit that could be used by artists living through other pandemics.
The workshop will take place online over two days on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd August between 10am & 5pm and include group discussions, reflective exercises and breakout activities in nearby public spaces. Selected artists need to be able to attend both days.
This project is supported by LADA (London), Compass Live Art (Leeds) & hÅb (Manchester).
Important dates
Deadline for applications: Midnight, Sunday 9th August
Applicants notified: Wednesday 12th August
Workshop dates: Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd August, 10am - 5pm both days
Fees and expenses
Selected participants will receive a £50 honorarium. If you have other expenses that would prohibit you from taking part (such as access or childcare costs) please include this in your application. Whilst the budget for this project is very small, accommodations will be made where possible.
Applications from outside the UK
Applications from outside the UK are welcomed, but please keep in mind that the workshop days will take place between 10am & 5pm GMT.
HOW TO APPLY
Please complete this short application form which asks the following questions:
- Name & pronouns
- Where are you currently based?
- Contact email
- Brief description of your practice (including images/website links if desired) and how it has been impacted by Covid-19. **300 words max**
- Links to websites/videos (optional)
- Supporting images and/or CV - 1 PDF file no larger than 10MB (optional)
- Please outline how taking part in this workshop will be of benefit to you **300 words max**
- What questions/challenges about making performance or live interventions in public spaces are you looking to explore? **300 words max**
- Access and/or expenses requirements (if applicable)
- Alternatively video applications in BSL or English and audio applications of no longer than 5 minutes that answer the above questions are welcomed - please send these and any supporting images/videos via WeTransfer to [email protected]
Access
This project has a small access budget and where possible individuals’ requirements will be accommodated, please include these in your application or contact [email protected] to discuss your requirements in more detail.
BSL interpretation, closed captioning and image descriptions for online group discussions can be provided.
About the workshop leader
Lydia Heath is a white, non-disabled, female-presenting queer person who uses she/her or they/them pronouns.
Their work as a visual artist and curator uses performance to explore the politics of public spaces, the relationship between art and activism, alternative futures and counter-narratives to capitalism. Over the past ten years they have been selected for exhibitions and residencies in Australia, Singapore, Spain and throughout the UK. Since 2016 they have managed ONCA Gallery in Brighton, UK - an arts organisation that bridges environmental and social justice issues.
Lydia acknowledges that systemic racism and ableism are pervasive within the arts and will actively work not to centre whiteness or able bodied perspectives in this workshop. Although the project budget is limited the workshop will aim to incorporate Carmen Papalia’s tenets of Open Access.