[artinfo] Call for Artists for the Ghetto Biennale

[e-artnow]

Call for Artists for the 3rd Ghetto Biennale 2013:

The 3rd Ghetto Biennale 2013: Decentering the 
Market and Other Tales of Progress
What happens when First World art rubs up against 
Third World art? Does it bleed?

In December 2009 Atis Rezistans, the Sculptors of 
Grand Rue, hosted their first Ghetto Biennale. 
They invited fine artists, film-makers, 
academics, photographers, musicians, architects 
and writers, to come to the Grand Rue area of 
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, to make or witness work 
that was made or happened, in their 
neighbourhood. In the words of the writer John 
Keiffer, it was hoping to be a ''third 
space'...an event or moment created through a 
collaboration between artists from radically 
different backgrounds'. The 2nd Ghetto Biennale 
took place in December 2011 and seemed, in a 
contradiction to its aims, to reveal contextual, 
internal and institutional vulnerabilities to the 
inequalities that run across race, class and 
gender, provoking further questioning of the way 
these dynamics play out in an increasingly 
globalized art world.

While the Ghetto Biennale was conceived to expose 
social, racial, class and geographical 
immobility, it seemed to have upheld these class 
inertias within its structural core. The Ghetto 
Biennale is looking for balance amongst the 
multifarious and often contradictory agendas 
underpinning the event. Are we institutional 
critique or a season ticket to the institution? 
Are we art tourism or an exit strategy from the 
ghetto? What was the effect of the earthquake and 
the ensuing NGO culture on cross-cultural 
relations in Haiti? The straplines for the 
previous Ghetto Biennales were 'What happens when 
first world art rubs up against third world art? 
Does it bleed?'ŠDid the Ghetto Biennale bleed, 
and if so where?

We have decided to respond to the challenges 
posed by the previous incarnations of this event 
by giving the 3rd Ghetto Biennale a theme. We are 
seeking artistic projects, which investigate or 
respond to 'The Market' from the local to the 
Global. We have also decided to make it a lens 
free Biennale to partially resist both the 
ethnographic gaze and the commodity fetishism 
that the lens can engender. *

The 3rd Ghetto Biennale seeks artistic projects 
that respond to this topic, help us to expose the 
boundaries of a globalized art market, and have 
meaningful discussion about sameness and 
diversity in an allegedly de-centered art world. 
The 3rd Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince is 
trying to create a space for artistic production 
that attempts to offer, whilst understanding all 
its limitations, artists from wide socioeconomic 
classes, a complex creative platform. The Ghetto 
Biennale hopes to contain the seeds of a 
possibility to transcend different models of 
ghettoizationŠplease help us to fail nobly.

The 3rd Ghetto Biennale 2013 will take place from 
the end of November until the middle of December 
2013, the exact dates to be confirmed. All works 
must be made and exhibited in Haiti. Artists will 
be invited to pass one to three weeks in Haiti 
before presenting their work in the neighbourhood 
to an audience of local people, Port au Prince 
neighbourhood communities, arts collectives and 
arts organisations. The 3rd Ghetto Biennale will 
be co-curated by Andre Eugene, David Frohnapfel 
and Leah Gordon.

www.ghettobiennale.com

Leahgordon at aol.com
Leah Gordon
Phone: +447958566791

Ghetto Biennale
622 Blvd J-Jacques Dessalines,
Port-au-Prince
Haiti

************************************************

The deadline for proposal applications is 
midnight Sunday 23rd June and our decisions will 
be made and announced by the end of the first 
week in July. The primary criteria will be based 
on practical issues of production viability in 
the Grand Rue locality.

Applicants for the 3rd Ghetto Biennale 2013 must 
provide a written synopsis of their project 
proposal covering conceptual background, 
methodology, and the production and exhibition 
strategy for the proposed new work on two sides 
of A4, including illustrations, and a one page 
CV, all formatted as pdfs. We will not accept any 
proposal longer than two sides and neither will 
we accept website links as a proposal component. 
Please keep in mind that we are looking for works 
that will be created during the three week period 
in Port au Prince, Haiti. We are not looking for 
work that is already created. We welcome projects 
that may require collaboration with local artists 
and would be able to help connect artists 
beforehand.

There is no funding for this event and you will 
be expected to cover the cost of your flight, 
accommodation and materials. We will supply a 
reading list, there is a film about the Grand Rue 
sculptors on-line and we will be more than happy 
to help (via email) with any research and 
information needed, both before your application 
and leading up to the event. Advice can be given 
about the practicalities for the production of 
specific projects and budgeting for the trip. If 
your work involves intensive interviews we will 
advise you to budget for your own translator. 
Artists should be aware that Haiti has only a 50% 
literacy rate and text heavy projects could be 
problematic for the local audience. We can help 
organise all hotel bookings, airport pick-ups and 
internal transport.

* No video and photography projects will be 
considered, but there will be a photographer on 
site to document the projects at the end of the 
event for anyone needing images to fulfil funding 
requirements.

'Atis-Rezistans: the Sculptors of Grand Rue' can 
be viewed at 
<http://vimeo.com/14681755>vimeo.com/14681755
Find more information about Atis-Rezistans visit 
<http://www.atis-rezistans.com/>www.atis-rezistans.com
Check out the project archives of the last two 
Ghetto Biennales 
<http://www.ghettobiennale.com/>www.ghettobiennale.com
Enquiries & questions contact: Leah Gordon at 
<mailto:Leahgordon at aol.com>Leahgordon at aol.com