Koumaria 2018 Open Call

Since 2009 the artist collective Medea Electronique has organized an annual 10-day experimental artist residency, Koumaria, near Sparta in Greece (the village of Sellasia), focusing on improvisation and new media practices. New-media artists from all over the world, inspired by the Greek natural landscape, come together to create a multicultural and cross-media ‘dialogue’ culminating in a collective presentation both locally and in Athens at the end of the residency.

This year they celebrate the tenth anniversary of the residency. They are also partners in the pan-European “Interfaces” Project which is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and so the theme for this years residency is INTERFACES. What is an interface? When is an instrument an interface/an interface an instrument? How does the structure of an interface determine the structure of the art it is used to produce? When is a performer an interface? Can a whole performance be an interface? Themes such as these will be explored.

Therefore they invite applications from artists who design, build and/or employ new interfaces or pre-existing interfaces in innovative ways, and performers who are excited by the prospect of working with new interfaces, or becoming one! As always Medea Electronique is committed to the high quality documentation of the residency, and so those interested in creating innovative documentation are also invited to apply. Residents will have the opportunity to employ the interfaces as part of the content for the Rhizomes III soundwalk app, created in association with ZKM in Germany and the Onassis Culutral Centre Athens, dedicated to the landscape surrounding the residency site.

Given the theme, they are looking for artists excited by the idea of collaborative artistic creation, grounded in an improvisatory spirit and practice. You are welcome to come to the residency with a new interface already built, or work on the design and creation during the residency (but note that there is a limited technical/industrial equipment on site, since the location is in in rural Greece!) Alternatively, you may be interested in employing interfaces in novel and creative ways. It is worth emphasizing that Koumaria’s focus is COLLECTIVE art creation. Individual should expect, and desire, substantive input from other residents, and be open to having their projects morph considerably during the course of the residency. While the final outputs may each have a primary organiser behind them, Koumaria is not the place for the development and presentation of solo works/content.

Please visit their website to find documentation of past residency projects. Your letter of application MUST reference past projects and demonstrate how you see your own art practices related to the range of artistic practices that have take place at Koumaria.

The residency provides hospitality as follows:

• transportation from Athens to the residency and back.
• housing and food supplies during the course of the residency
• transportation to all the sites visited as part of the residency
• an additional stipend of 200 Euros

The accommodation is organized as follows:

• rooms & bathrooms at the residency are shared
• cooking and cleaning the house during the stay is undertaken collectively according to a rota (organizing what tasks people are expected to do on what day)

Access to technology:

• residents should bring their own equipment (instruments & computers etc.)
• the residency takes place in a remote region of Greece, with limited ability to obtain tech/electronic materials – it is far easier to get in the area a bail of wire, or a piece of pipe then a semi-conductor or an obscure battery! For this reason residents should check in advance concerning what materials will be available, and what they will need to bring.
• No Internet access at the house.

Living expenses: while there are few expenses the residents need to consider while at the residency, it is worth having some funds for trips to local cafes and the like. Calculate approximately 5-10 euros a day for such incidentals. Your stipend will more than cover this.

Transportation to and from Athens: the residency does not provide transportation to and from Athens. Residents are responsible for arranging this themselves.

The application is online, with deadline 1st June 2018.