[artinfo] Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019

[Call for Curators]

Last chance to apply: Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019

Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019 - Residency program for emerging 
international curators

Application deadline: 3 June 2019

Duration: 16 September - 31 October 2019
Location: Vienna, Austria

Want to gain first-hand curatorial practical experience in one of the 
most vibrant art hubs in Europe?
Looking to improve your curating skills in a highly international setting?
Motivated to connect with notable agents of the Viennese contemporary 
art scene?
Eager to create connections with peers coming from different parts of 
the world?
Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019 (C'A) aims to answer your specific 
professional aspirations and to provide you with a unique first-hand 
curatorial experience during a 6-week residency program in Vienna.

C'A offers:

In-depth exploration of the Viennese contemporary art scene
A platform for cultural exchange and collaboration with 
representatives of the Viennese contemporary art community
Possibility for individual professional growth and international networking
A unique opportunity for implementing the "lessons learned" through 
organization and realization of a mutual group show
For whom is the C'A designed?

Emerging curators from all around the globe who seek to discover the 
Viennese contemporary art scene in-depth and create a network of 
contacts as well as to gain additional theoretical and practical 
experience in curating.

C'A program:

Weekly theoretical workshops
Project management workshop
Lectures & Talks with established curators and cultural educators 
from leading institutions, off spaces as well as with freelance 
operators
Studio visits
Co-curating of the mutual group show realized in partnership with the 
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Alongside organising a mutual group exhibition with students from 
<http://x7w9.mj.am/lnk/AMsAAD1Ld84AAcYELbYAABj0ucgAAFdhuKgAHEIbAADE_QBc7VCB01IKZZK_QZy3_UP6iGSNwgAAxXY/3/uqOXp2JmfIO77qdueP55Dw/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kaWVhbmdld2FuZHRlLmF0L2Vu>the 
University of Applied Arts Vienna, as the final part of the program, 
the C'A participants will also be provided with know-how modules and 
workshops related to exhibition management and production.

The participants will receive the certificate of the C'A program 
completion after finishing the residency.

C'A application:

Up to 10 applicants will be selected to take part in the C'A program. 
Working language is English.

Please send us your CV (one A4 page) and letter of motivation (one A4 
page) with emphasized special field of interest by 3 June 2019 to 
<mailto:info at blockfrei.org>info at blockfrei.org

Selected participants will be notified several days after the deadline.

C'A program fee:

The cost of the program is EUR 1500.The registration fee is additional EUR 50.

The program fee includes:

Entry fees for museums and other special events
Workshops and lectures
Production costs of the group exhibition
Local cell phone cards
The program fee does not cover costs such as:

Travelling expenses
Accommodation
Health Insurance
Note: Bank fees and wire costs should be covered by the participants. 
Please take this into account when making a payment.

Selected participants should make a payment in advance, no later than 
10 June 2019.

In case of cancellation, later than 15 June 2019 all fees will be 
non-refundable.

All inquiries regarding the program can be directed to 
<mailto:info at blockfrei.org>info at blockfrei.org

Detailed description:

The fifth edition of the program Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019 (C'A) 
is taking place for six weeks in Vienna from mid-September till the 
end of October 2019.

C'A is an annual, unique, know-how program for international, 
emerging curators who are interested in exploring Vienna's 
contemporary art scene and deepening their practical and theoretical 
knowledge on production and realization of exhibitions.

The participants are selected on the basis of an open call, published 
worldwide three months before the start of the program. The selection 
is based on the motivation letter and biography of the applicants. 
The selection committee includes a curator and an artist, both active 
in the Viennese contemporary art scene, as well as BLOCKFREI's 
members.

Program:

The program includes the following activities: visits to artists' 
studios, museums, off spaces, art collections, meetings with both 
institutional and free-lance curators, specially designed guided 
tours through exhibitions in various museums and galleries as well as 
visiting current programs, which are taking place at that moment 
(viennacontemporary, Parallel Vienna, Vienna Biennale, curated by).

These activities take place during the first four weeks, three days a 
week (Mo-Wed). Thursdays are reserved for feedback sessions in order 
to discuss participants' needs, to reflect on the previous week 
together, as well as to have time to concentrate on the preparations 
for the group exhibition and the upcoming workshop. On Fridays, the 
weekly theoretical workshops related to the exhibition 
conceptualisation are taking place.

The program is created with competencies of selected Viennese 
curators (TBA) and BLOCKFREI's members.

Exhibition:

The final part of the Curators' Agenda program is a preparation of a 
mutual group exhibition. Besides the intensive program, which 
introduces the participants to the Viennese contemporary art scene, a 
special focus is set on curating a mutual group exhibition. By 
reflecting on the lessons learned and by drawing upon their own 
experiences and competencies, participants are given a task to 
develop their own, personal approach to the contemporary Viennese art 
scene, create a concept and execute a mutual group exhibition.

The exhibition is organized in partnership with 
<http://x7w9.mj.am/lnk/AMsAAD1Ld84AAcYELbYAABj0ucgAAFdhuKgAHEIbAADE_QBc7VCB01IKZZK_QZy3_UP6iGSNwgAAxXY/4/tMaogn7_jQliJHUb6e4LjQ/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kaWVhbmdld2FuZHRlLmF0L2Vu>the 
University of Applied Arts Vienna. Students interested in taking part 
in the group exhibition, curated by the participants of the C'A 
program, reply to an open call.

Venue of this year's exhibition is again 
<http://x7w9.mj.am/lnk/AMsAAD1Ld84AAcYELbYAABj0ucgAAFdhuKgAHEIbAADE_QBc7VCB01IKZZK_QZy3_UP6iGSNwgAAxXY/5/qSP2zKUQ9whxevWdApiVcg/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ2FsZXJpZS1rcmluemluZ2VyLmF0L3Byb2pla3Rl>Krinzinger 
Projekte.

Methodology of the exhibition execution:

In 2018 we have introduced a thematic framework for the participating 
curators. The idea was to provide them with a theme around which they 
would build their exhibition concept. This specific approach gave 
favourable results and it was decided to continue in a similar 
direction for this year's edition of the Curators' Agenda program.

Prior to their arrival in Vienna, the selected curators - 
participants of the Curators' Agenda: VIENNA 2019, will receive a set 
of reading materials in a digital format. These selected readings 
will be connected to the proposed thematic framework in order to 
prepare the participants for the theoretical workshops. The workshops 
are meant to provide support and guidance to the curators concerning 
the process of development and conceptualisation of the (mutual 
group) exhibition topic. This will be done by discussing the proposed 
reading material as well as by implementing the curators' impressions 
of the Viennese art scene, experienced through the carefully designed 
weekly program. Furthermore, within the workshops, the curators' task 
will be to discuss the students' artworks among each other and with 
the mentor and elaborate on the methodology behind the selection of 
the artworks for the final exhibition. The theoretical workshops will 
assist the curators in investigating the recommended thematic 
framework and might also serve as an instigator for the creation of 
the exhibition concept. Nonetheless, it is up to the curators to 
create the final exhibition concept through their own conclusions and 
execute it according to their own perspective.

These theoretical workshops leading to the conceptualization of the 
exhibition and selection of the artworks fitting the chosen topic 
will be mentored by Anamarija Batista - a curator, researcher and 
lecturer who already contributed with her mentorship during previous 
editions of the Curators' Agenda.

Artists selection process:

At the beginning of March 2019, we will publish the Open Call at the 
University of Applied Arts Vienna, which will be distributed to all 
students through their departments. The open call will last until the 
end of June. Prior to their arrival to Vienna, the selected curators 
will be provided with the students' portfolios and will thus prepare 
for the presentations of their artworks organised in the first week 
of the Curators' Agenda program.

After several weeks of discussing the potential topic of the 
exhibition and developing its concept in the context of the mentioned 
workshops, the curators will announce the selected artworks that will 
be included in the show. Meanwhile, during the selection process, if 
additional information on artworks is required, the curators will be 
getting in touch with the art students directly.

C'A thematic framework:

"Intimacy in the era of global connections"

In 2019 the Curators' Agenda program focuses on the topic of global, 
digital and other (dis)connections and their implications concerning 
intimacy.

The political and technological paradigm shift which happened 30 
years ago functions as a historical starting point for new ways of 
thinking, new perspectives and new forms of communicating, 
travelling, negotiating and trading processes. Interestingly, the 
fall of the Berlin Wall that signified the beginning of the end of 
the Cold War, was accompanied by the introduction of new digital 
technologies and network communication platforms such as the World 
Wide Web*. The soft tool that enables the world to overcome spatial 
and time boundaries, to connect, to standardize, to democratize has 
become a communication, organization and marketing tool.

Since then the world has been thrusting into the innovation and 
progress, while, at the same time, creating a portal to the earthly 
pandemonium. Oversaturated with the multi-media imagery, public 
representations and easily accessible machinery of communication, we 
found ourselves in the society that is challenging our spaces of 
intimacy.

Besides the relationships among lovers or friends, the forms of 
intimacy also consider institutional frameworks, city or trade 
spaces. Different forms of dialogues - from social media, publicity 
platforms to physical spaces - prompt us to question and comment on 
the notion of intimacy and its existence in today's society. The 
guiding research question of this year's C'A program is whether and 
how do we reflect on the question of intimacy in times of global 
connectivity? How is this issue related to the most recent 
technological developments? And in what way is it influenced by the 
mentioned socio-political and economic phenomena initiated as of 1989?

* World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.

C'A as a networking platform:

C'A program is also a platform for cultural exchange and 
collaboration for both international, emerging curators and the 
representatives of the Viennese contemporary art community.

Besides an intensive schedule, where new contacts are being made, the 
participants are also introduced to different artist-in-residence 
programs such as KulturKontakt Austria, Quartier 21 and das weisse 
haus, having the chance to get to know the visiting artists.

The C'A program is designed to offer an overview of established as 
well as emerging players of the Viennese contemporary art scene and 
to provide the participating curators with a collaborative space for 
experimentation and innovation in an international setting, parallel 
to the development of practical skills.

Note: Special feature of this year's edition of the Curators' Agenda: 
VIENNA 2019 is that the program will reserve two places for selected 
emerging curators from Ukraine as a result of the partnership among 
Ukrainian institute and BLOCKFREI, and in the spirit of the bilateral 
Year of culture between Ukraine and Austria. All Ukrainian applicants 
should apply via 
<file:///C:/Users/Ignacio/Downloads/ui.org.ua>Ukrainian Institute.