Estuary 2016 - Culture LAB and Commissions
Monday 9 – Friday 13 May 2016
Open call
Deadline to Apply - 25 March
Estuary is a new, biennial arts festival curated in response to the spectacular Thames Estuary and presented in culturally significant and historic venues along the Essex and Kent shorelines.
An exciting mix of new and existing works will pull together powerful themes resonant to the place, its history, landscape and communities in an ambitious programme of contemporary art, literature, film and music.
The Thames Estuary is an ‘edgeland’. It is a place of transition – one of arrivals and departures – a gateway that connects the UK to the rest of the world. It has been the front line for the defence of the realm as well as the first port of welcome for migrants and visitors from around the world. Industrial heartland and logistics sit alongside wild habitats, ancient monuments and concrete commuter towns. Echoes from the birthplace of early punk, noisy seaside fun, brent geese, fog horns and cargo ships create an unmistakable soundscape. It has long provided an endless source of fascination, inspiration and mystery for both artists and audiences.
Estuary 2016 will take place over 17 days from Friday 16 September – Sunday 2 October and will feature work and projects in a wide range of disciplines – visual art, literature, music, performance, sound and film.
Metal are working with a broad and diverse set of partners to deliver the festival.
Estuary 2016 - Culture LAB
Metal has been running professional development Culture LABs for practicing artists of all disciplines for a number of years from all our spaces in Peterborough, Liverpool and Southend. These week-long, residential LABs offer an intensive, peer to peer opportunity for critical learning and development of practice in a supported and ‘safe’ environment, allowing for experimentation and risk.
For Estuary 2016 we are looking for five artists (open to all disciplines) based in the UK to take part in a Culture LAB to develop ideas in response to the Thames Estuary region with a view to creating work that can be included within the programme for Estuary 2016.
The commissions, where appropriate, will include some level of community engagement, whether through research, collaboration or the sharing of skills through workshop activity. Whilst the range of artists’ proposals will emerge through the LAB process, potential commissions could focus around migration, landscape, travel, transport, history and heritage or the many other themes that the Thames Estuary inspires.
The Culture LAB opportunity comes with a £500 fee for taking part in the week long process, as well as full board and accommodation. It also comes with a small commissioning budget of £2000 per artist.
How It Will Work
Selected artists will be required to attend the Culture LAB week at Metal in Southend (Monday 9 – Friday 13 May 2016). This intensive week will be mentored by Estuary artist/curators alongside staff from Metal to support the ideas development and planning. The week will include site visits to various places of interest along the Estuary, including Tilbury Cruise Terminal, High House Production Park in Purfleet, Southend Pier and Coalhouse Fort.
Following the LAB, the selected artists will have three months development time to complete their commissions ready for presentation at Estuary 2016 in September.
A further group feedback session will be scheduled for early August (date to be determined). Metal staff will provide support to each artist throughout the process, making links to local community groups and offering access to facilities if required.
Fee
Each selected artist will receive:-
£500 for participation in the Culture LAB
£2,000 to realise a project or work for Estuary 2016
All accommodation, food and travel for the Culture LAB week in Southend will be covered by Metal
Key Dates
Application Deadline: Friday 25 March 2016
Successful artists notified: w/c 28 March 2016
Estuary Culture LAB: Monday 9 – Friday 13 May 2016 N.B. all artists MUST be able to attend this week
Artist Feedback Session: Early August 2016
Estuary Festival: Friday 16 September – Sunday 2 October 2016
How to apply
Artists are invited to apply from any artistic discipline. We welcome applications from artists at different stages in their career.
Please complete our online APPLICATION FORM and upload CV and relevant images.
We ask you for a general statement about your artistic practice – alongside an additional outline of your initial response to what interests you about this opportunity.
If you require any further information please contact Metal on 01702 470700 or chalkwell@metalculture.com
Notification of selected artists will be in the week of 28 March.
About Metal
Metal was founded by Jude Kelly CBE in 2002 and was created as an artistic laboratory to champion the need for continual investment in artistic investigation and the development of innovative ideas that could shift the thinking in the UK cultural sector. We provide innovative, multi-disciplinary residency space for artists from the UK and overseas in Liverpool, Southend on Sea and Peterborough.
Alongside providing space for artists and thinkers to develop their ideas and further the philosophy of their work, we are interested in how this artistic process, and the practice of artists can input into, and potentially influence political and social issues of the day. Through our artistic programme we draw out evidence and ideas for a better understanding of the artist’s role in civic life, and ensure that these are shared with a wide and diverse set of partners. These ideas are showcased and disseminated on a regular basis through residencies, exhibitions, events, performance, discussion and publications.
