Enclave Land Art residency 2022

Enclave Land Art 2022 is a project co-produced by Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana through a program of residencies Cultura Resident, with the support of the Vall de Gallinera council (Alicante, Spain) are glad to announce the open call for the Fourth Edition of the Enclave Land Art Residency.

Submissions should focus on the dialogue between human beings and nature so as to create an artistic Land Art itinerary in the area. Seven projects will be selected from different artistic disciplines that will be developed and produced in the natural environment during the two weeks of the Art Residency, sharing experiences, ideas and a common goal.

All projects must take into consideration people's interest in contemporary arts, aiming to give greater value to the area of Vall de Gallinera, promoting a deep and permanent conscience about the historical, cultural and traditional aspects of the territory through a dialogue between art and nature.

Enclave Land Art 2022 invites artists to reflect on how the Sun, ever-present in Vall de Gallinera, is influencing and shaping its surroundings, and on how this impacts on nature, animals and humans. The Sun's influence is mirrored by a natural separation of the valley itself in two segments: the Solana (permanently sunny side) and the Ombría (shady side). The human distribution within the villages is equally affected, all being located on the southern side of the Gallinera river, the backbone along which the water flows constantly, despite its appearance and disappearance.

The Solana, mainly shrubland, thinly vegetated and strongly sun-exposed, has very high temperatures during the summers. Decades back, this favoured transhumance and livestock transport, as well as the construction of farmyards - although abandoned today, they still stand as a fine expression of the dry-stone construction, typical of the region, and have now become a building heritage of the area. The Ombría, the shaded area, is characterised by thicker vegetation and colourful terraces stretching across the whole rhombus-shaped valley. Alongside this anthropic-natural link with the land/sun, a distinctive element, la foradà, originated thanks to the particular orography and an imaginative play of nature.

The natural arch in the rock is a coup du théâtre. The Sun wants to wink and sneak into the shadow. It is an unexpected spot that offers the Sun the chance to participate twice a year in this unattainable place. In the 17th century, some Franciscan monks interpreted this as a divine sign and built a monastery in its honour. The solar alignment reached notoriety and it was reinforced by this building. However, this was lost and forgotten until the beginning of this century.

As José Lull wrote in 2008 in La alineación solar de la foradá en la Vall de Gallinera, nowadays the monastery does not exist anymore. All the traces of its presence were cancelled, even from the collective memory of the valley. Only a vague memory has been heard about its existence before. Even the solar alignment through la foradà was lost. No alignment, no franciscans, no monastery. Everything forgotten, buried forever. However, in recent years, the alignment of the Sun has made a comeback, and the legend of the monastery it illuminated has become part of territorial history and a rescue of historical memory.

In this second edition of the Enclave Land Art Residency, artists are inivted to reflect upon the presence of the Sun and how it affected, is affecting and will affect human nature.

Residency period:

• From the 7th until the 20th of November included. The artists will present the projects to the locals on the Sunday 6th of November 2022.
• Projects will be presented to the public on the 19th and the 20th of November 2022.

Location of the itinerary: The route of Corrals de La Carrotja (between Benisivà and La Carrotja), Vall de Gallinera (Alicante). Maps, images and more information on their website.

Disciplines: Installation, land art, photography, anthropology, research, sculpture, performance and any other artistic manifestation or line of work in which the artist-territory-nature dialogue can be found within the specific nature of the environment in which the work will be developed and of the proposed idea.

Artists will receive:

• The organisers will cover the travel costs from/to the original country with up to 200€* and can provide an acceptance letter to the artists to apply for other grants in their country to cover any extra expenses they might incur.
• Individual grants of 800€** - V.A.T. included. It will be paid upon receiving an invoice from the artist, with no exception.
• A shared workspace and up to 300€ for materials according to the characteristics of the proposal, previously approved by the Enclave Production Team.
• Accommodation in a shared house in individual rooms with shared bathrooms.
• Meals will be provided. Artists must inform the organisers about any special diet, allergies, intolerances, veganism, etc.
• One assistant could be provided if required for the execution of a project. A request with an explanation must be made to the organisers who will consider case by case.

* In case of exceed the amount Enclave Land Art can support the artist to ask for a travel grant in the original country with an acceptance letter. In case the grant is not accepted the artist must cover the travel expenses from this amount.

** Artists must send an invoice to Enclave after completing the Residency to be paid/reimbursed.  

Artists' commitments:

• The artists must accomplish and consign their projects within the deadline, on the 18rd of November 2022 included.
• The artists must participate in the open doors events on the 19th and 20th of November 2021.  
• The artists must be part of all the events and activities which require their presence.
• The artists must prepare and deliver a workshop about their project and general research to the local people during the Residency. (if the artist does not speak Spanish, an interpreter will be present).

Collateral activities and Enclave Curatorial:

• During the Residency, Enclave Land Art will organise collateral activities to explain the history and environment of Vall de Gallinera.  Attendance: optional.
• Enclave Curatorial Team will work with a selection of artists in the creation of a curatorial project to be developed and shown in an external exhibition space.

Deadline for applying is 15th September 2022. Submissions/proposals must contain 2 attached documents in PDF format, less than 5MB’s size. Both attachments should not exceed 6 pages plus cover/front page. The artist’s name must appear ONLY in the attachment 2. Attachment 1 must be ANONYMOUS.

Attachment 1 (anonymous and in ONE PDF):

• Cover/motivation letter
• Name and description of the project (goals, methodology, drawings and/or images, etc.), max 4 pages (A4).
• Chronogram of the process and materials to be used.

Attachment 2: CV/portfolio with full contact details (phone number, email and other links).

Proposals must be sent by email to: [email protected], with subject: Open call of the Third Edition of Enclave Land Art residency 2022. Submissions/projects are accepted in Spanish or English.