SciArt Residency 2021

SciArt Residency is a residency programme jointly established by Kalamari Klub and IsoQuant, encouraging proposals by artists and enthusiasts who are aiming to develop a body of work based on creation, collaboration and experimentation within an artistic research process. The residency is scheduled for September to October 2021 and located in Heidelberg, Germany.

Kalamari Klub is an international artists’ collective for the celebration of analogue photography. They believe in film, the fine art of darkroom printing and experimental processes. Since 2016, they have been promoting and supporting local and international artists through festivals, exhibitions, workshops and a residency programme. For this residency period, they are delighted to announce their newest collaboration with IsoQuant.

IsoQuant is a Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) at the University of Heidelberg focusing on Isolated Quantum Systems and Universality in Extreme Conditions. Collaborative Research Centres are long-term research institutions in which researchers are tackling innovative, challenging and complex research questions within a cross-disciplinary research program. The scientific aim of the CRC IsoQuant is to explore and gain a better understanding of the question of why many physical quantum systems exhibit characteristic common properties despite fundamental differences in key parameters such as temperature, density, or field strength. The cross-disciplinary approach to this research question within the IsoQuant collaboration brings together theoretical and experimental physicists from different fields and allows for a broad bandwidth of experimental and theoretical methods to solve overarching issues in physics. In its current funding period, IsoQuant committed to build up a manyfold scientific outreach program, including a SciArtCollaboration with workshops, artist talks, organization of photo walks, and this artist residency.

With the SciArt Residency programme, the aim is to initiate curiosity-driven engagement between artists, scientists and other members of the society, promoting a spirit of co-learning and equality while helping to communicate knowledge through cross-disciplinary collaboration. A central part of the residency will be the active cooperation and exchange with scientists of the field. Before the beginning of the residency, the selected artist is invited to give a short presentation about their previous projects and research interests in order to initiate a conversation between scientists working within the CRC and the artist. During the residency, contact persons within IsoQuant and Kalamari Klub will be available to support collaboration, and the artist will be given the opportunity to further develop their research project and focus on their work. It is important to note the programme’s approach as „open prospect“: the form, process and outcome of the residency are entirely up to the artist and their collaborators. Additional funding for an exhibition, talk, workshop or other forms of presentation of the work done during the residency is available.

Key features included in the SciArt Residency:

• Access to fully equipped darkroom laboratory (black-and-white & colour photography)
• Network of scientists, physicists and artists
• Accommodation (apartment) in Heidelberg for the duration of the residency
• Coverage of travel costs to and from the residency
• Coverage of material costs during the residency
• Artist stipend of 700€ / month

The application is open to all artists and photographers working with analogue and experimental photography, as well as all those who are working within science-influenced art and photography. While affinity for scientific topics is of advantage, no scientific knowledge is required. The minimum age at the date of application is 18 years.

All applicants are asked to send their application in digital format. The application can be submitted in English or German. In order to apply, please provide the following documents:

• Application form (Download here)
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Letter of Motivation: tell the organisers why you are applying and what you would like to work on during the residency (max. 1000 words).
• Portfolio: an overview of your projects, publications, research interests, your website and any other type of media that shows your work. Please include relevant dates and titles.

Please e-mail all your application documents in one zipped folder, labelled „sciart_residency_lastname_firstname“ to [email protected]. If your .zip file exceeds 15MB, please provide a download link instead (Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc.). If you wish to submit additional physical material (prints, publications, work samples, etc.), please contact them in advance via [email protected] for further information. The deadline for all applications is Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 23:59 CET. The successful artist will be selected on the basis of their submitted material, artistic merit and research proposal by a jury composed of experts from the Arts and Sciences alike. Applicants will be notified of their status by March 31, 2021.