CALLING Ukrainian visual artists for participation in the project WE SEE UKRAINE. Six visual artists (a mix of Europeans, Ukrainians back home and Ukrainians on the refuge) from three partner countries - Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine – will work together to create an exhibition that will reflect on the situation of the Ukrainian people caught in a second year of a destructive war. There will be stories to tell and experiences to be “translated” between Ukrainians and their fellow Europeans. The aim of our project is to connect artists – Ukrainian and local, refugees and residents – to put their hands, heads and hearts together to come up with a visual language for this.
The project aims at true collaborative work, with two in person artist workshops in Sofia and in Zagreb, and a continuous online collaboration process resulting in a group exhibition in November that will be shown in Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine.
Each artist will receive a stipend of 3600 Euro to cover work and materials. Travel and accommodation costs for attending the workshops and the exhibit opening are covered by the project.
THE PROCESS
The selected artists will be required to participate in two on-site brainstorming and networking workshops - one in Sofia on 22–23 May 2023, and one in Zagreb on 11-12 July 2023, and in regular virtual meetings during the whole scope of the project, in the time between the workshops and leading up to the series of exhibits in November 2023. How much it will be a joint project, and how much – a group exhibition will emerge naturally in the course of the artists’ work together over the Summer. The goal of the project is to build an environment and a process in which the artists have a chance to get to know each other, as well as the Ukrainian communities in Sofia and Zagreb, and have a chance to come to a joint concept. This will ideally lead to an exhibition that has been truly co-created by its authors, rather than just bringing together a series of separate artworks under one thematic roof.
THE TIMELINE
Submission deadline: 18 April 2023, 23:59:00 EET
Selection notification date: 21 April 2023
Workshop 1, Sofia: 22–23 May 2023
Workshop 2, Zagreb: 11-12 July 2023
Parallel exhibitions in Sofia, Zagreb and Lviv: November 2023
THE CONDITIONS
– a stipend of 3600 Euro to cover work and materials (minus all applicable taxes and social charges depending on the artist’s tax residence)
– travel, accommodation and per diems to the two 2-day workshops, and where applicable to the exhibit openings are covered by us
– Important! In person participation in the two workshops and timely production of works within the project’s topic for the final exhibition is mandatory (artists traveling by land from Ukraine have the option to stay up to 5 days if need be)
– working language of the project is English
HOW TO APPLY
We are seeking Ukrainian artists of all mediums of visual arts, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, spatial art (land art, architecture and design), photography, video, or performance.
To apply please submit:
- CV (max. 2 pages)
- Motivation letter where you talk about your approach to your work, relation to the theme and the future that you’d like to explore over the course of the WE SEE UKRAINE project (1 page).
- Portfolio (max. 10 pages)
Please, submit one PDF file (max. 20MB) to weseeukraine@gmail.com
The deadline for submissions is April 18, 2023. Successful applicants will be notified by April 21, 2023.
We look forward to receiving your applications and working with you to raise awareness of the situation in Ukraine through the power of art to spark empathy.
SELECTION PROCESS
The team of the project will evaluate all applications and get back to the selected applicants.
ABOUT US & THE PROJECT
WE SEE UKRAINE is a collaborative visual and performing arts project, developed between tanuki films (Bulgaria), Eclectica (Croatia) and the Lviv Tourism Development Center (Ukraine), exploring the various imprints the war in Ukraine has on the Ukrainian people. We measure those imprints through three instruments – the use of language, the relation of people to objects, and the human body as an instrument for change and communication.
We base the project on previous work we have done in the field of documentary and visual art. The project will build on the experiences of ordinary Ukrainians: refugees or people who have already managed to return to their homes – or what was left of them – in the Ukraine. Six visual artists (local as well as Ukrainians back home or on the refuge) from the three partner countries - Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine – will work within the project framework to create a joint exhibition. It will be a true collaborative work, and the aim of our project is to connect artists – Ukrainian and local, refugees and residents – to put their hands, heads and hearts together to come up with a visual language for this intercultural translation. Our project gives the framework for this co-creative effort, and will manage its output – onto online platforms and a series of exhibitions/performances in our partner countries.
WE SEE UKRAINE is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
