Radar Sofia Open Call 2022

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Afbeelding
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Bulgarije

Radar Sofia Open Call 2022

Distance and Resistance: call for applicants from all performative fields, with a special focus on dramaturgical thinking, for a 1-month residency in Bulgaria.

Radar Sofia is a newly established artist-run residency programme with focus on playwrights and dramaturges, artists at risk facing persecution and exile, and it seeks to support political, socially engaged and experimental contemporary art practices. Radar Sofia runs and coordinates Drama Pact, an informal union of playwrights and dramaturges in Sofia and abroad, and an initiative to support and promote contemporary dramaturgy. Radar Sofia is funded by Bulgaria’s National Culture Fund under its one-year grant scheme in 2022.

Open Call 2022: Distance and Resistance
Radar Sofia is announcing an open call for artists for 3 fully-funded residencies in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2022 under its year-long programme Distance and Resistance.

Every year Radar Sofia proposes a curatorial line with a main theme and a series of guest artists – invited or selected through an international open call – who give a lecture or workshop sharing their methods and practices, and/or create a performance involving local participants in the work process. One of the aims of these curatorial lines is to develop the local artistic field through critical discourse, free non-formal education and new experimental formats, as well as to create opportunities for Bulgarian artists to form partnerships and collaborate with international professionals. Radar Sofia as an international place for experimental artistic practice has so far created and supported numerous spin-off projects coming up as a result of the residencies. You can look at their website for the full list of previous residents and projects.

Social distancing, border closures, postponement of plans and projects, cancellation of festivals and residencies as well as a general sense of growing isolationism made us choose the theme of Distance and Resistance. If the situation with the pandemic only intensifies and makes visible what we've already been living through for a long time – a migration from the physical to the digital world, increasing work insecurity, social and physical distancing – then how does our artistic practice respond to these processes, how does it resist them, how does it offer alternatives and how does it distance itself from the ready-made solutions? Radar Sofia is the first and only residency in the Bulgarian context, focused on dramaturgy understood in a very broad sense. They ask you and themselves: what can dramaturgy contribute to the world of today, how can it bring people together and how can it help re-imagine our contexts?

They believe the digital cannot be the only alternative during health and climate catastrophes, especially for artistic practices rooted in the live body and the meeting between people, that's why they insist on offering physical residencies, live in Sofia.

Timeslots
The residencies last for a minimum of 1 month, with a possibility for extension.

1. Residency starting in May, deadline Feb. 1, response by Feb 15
2. Residency starting in June, deadline March 1, response by March 15
3. Residency starting in September/October, deadline May 31, response by June 15

Artists who are interested in the local situation in Sofia, want to show and share their previous work, interact with local communities, research and develop new ideas, as well as form long-lasting partnerships in Bulgaria are welcome to apply.

Eligibility
They accept applicants from all performative fields, with a special focus on dramaturgical thinking (understood as wide as possible), which is at the core of the practice at Radar Sofia, spanning across disciplines. They welcome performing arts makers, playwrights, dramaturges, directors, performers, choreographers, as well as visual artists and curators working with live art, performance art, relational aesthetics, interactivity, community engagement and other old and new performative practices.

Outcome
Production is not a must but if you have an idea our team will support you in getting in touch with local institutions, finding the most suitable working and presentation space. Radar Sofia has a small studio but doesn't have its own stage or bigger rehearsal room. However, it collaborates with a number of local institutions that can provide various options. A potential final presentation can take the form of a lecture, talk, performance, workshop, installation, exhibition, work-in-progress, etc. A return to Sofia at a later stage to finalize an idea with additional funding is also an option.

Budget

One-time stipend of 800 EUR
Up to 400 EUR for production/presentation (to be spent locally)
Up to 200 EUR for travel costs

Selected artists can be provided with invitation letters for additional external funding applications in case the project needs it.

How to apply
In order to apply, fill in the online form including

  1. a short narrative bio;
  2. a presentation of up to three previous projects you’re particularly proud of – with links and short statements;
  3. a presentation of your idea for workshop/lecture/performance/installation (etc.) in Sofia that you can make happen within the given budget;
  4. a short video message of up to 3 minutes for the team in Sofia, informally addressing the following five questions:
    1. Who are you?
    2. What interests you about Sofia?
    3. Who do you want to meet?
    4. What do you imagine/dream of doing?
    5. How do you think we can help?
  5. information about how you heard about us and the open call.

Visit their website for more information.

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