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Open Call: Islands of Change
Timeline
Submission period
Sun Feb 16 at 05AM UTC
End of submission period
Sun Mar 30 at 09:59PM UTC
Results date
Tue Apr 15 at 04PM UTC
Tackling the climate emergency and the many crises facing our planet today requires radical approaches and concrete collective action. “Islands of Change” is an invitation to create artistic projects and positions that merge sound art and artistic research with community engagement, challenging dominant narratives and imaginaries, while rethinking our relationships with local and global ecologies. This project is a call to unite diverse practices and voices – artists, cultural organizations, academic institutions, and activist networks – to form resilient alliances for practiced change.
In collaboration with SONIC TOMORROW, Residenties in Utrecht and the Gaudeamus Festival – and supported by the In Situ/City-programme under the Ulysses Platform funded by Creative Europe – this initiative encourages experimentation, dialogue, and a hyperlocal and community-driven approach to global concerns. Whether your work involves immersive installations, collaborative performances, public interventions or innovative research projects, we welcome proposals of artists working with sound that inspire action and deepen our understanding of shared responsibilities and commoning.
Themes & Questions to Explore
In a country and city where water is both scarce and over-abundant – engineered, monitored, and extracted for human purposes – this open call invites artists, researchers, and activists to explore water’s multiple roles as a historical tool of colonialism and imperialism and as a possible source and metaphor of repair, healing and solidarity. Participants are invited to propose critical artistic positions addressing the intersections of (water) ecologies, community engagement and cultural renewal. Lead your audience on a voyage through diverse geographies, histories, temporalities, and soundscapes to rethink how water and other local ecologies can connect communities, regenerate cultural practices, and illuminate submerged histories.
Collective Action & Counter-Imaginaries
How can art, particularly sound and listening, challenge prevailing narratives, offer counter-imaginaries and create spaces for collective action, and inspire change in our communities?
Commons & Hyperlocality
How do shared resources and mutual learning contribute to addressing global issues on a local scale? How can small-scale initiatives create meaningful, sustainable impact? How can we develop solidarities within our communities to create many connecting islands of change?
Self-reflection, Unlearning & Discomfort
How do we challenge our existing institutions, unlearn the top-down knowledge structures that have historically silenced or marginalized other ways of knowing? How do we incorporate critical self-reflection into our practices and manage the possible discomfort of reaching out to voices in our communities that are outside of our own political circles?
Submerged Histories & New Kinships
Uncover submerged histories and reimagine relationships with water and ecological infrastructures. Investigate water’s role in colonial and capitalist expansion, including the history of canals, rivers, dams, and irrigation schemes. Explore water kinships and the ways cultural narratives are revived and reimagined through (new) ecological kinships and sensory engagements.
Eligibility & Submission Details
The stipend is offered within the framework of the In Situ/City-programme by the Ulysses Platform, designed to support emerging artists in developing their skills and exploring innovative practices. We welcome proposals from individual artists as well as collaborative teams and collectives.
Two spots are available
-Artist receive a stipend of €1000 and a tutoring by SONIC TOMORROW
-10 days of accommodation are covered (this can be a consecutive residency or can be split in two, a first leg in the Spring and a second during Gaudeamus Festival in September).
-Travel is covered
-Per diem (if food and drinks are not offered on location)
-The artist has to be EU-based, but an EU-passport is not required
What and Where?
Participants are encouraged to propose projects that not only interrogate the complex roles water plays in our social, ecological, and political landscapes but also actively engage with local communities to foster reciprocal learning and change.
Join us in reimagining water as a catalyst for cultural renewal and climate justice. With art, we can transform small interventions into powerful currents. Let’s create counter narratives and islands of change that resonate both locally and globally.
Details are available at web pages:
https://gaudeamus.nl/en/call/open-call-islands-of-change/
In collaboration with SONIC TOMORROW, Residenties in Utrecht and the Gaudeamus Festival – and supported by the In Situ/City-programme under the Ulysses Platform funded by Creative Europe – this initiative encourages experimentation, dialogue, and a hyperlocal and community-driven approach to global concerns. Whether your work involves immersive installations, collaborative performances, public interventions or innovative research projects, we welcome proposals of artists working with sound that inspire action and deepen our understanding of shared responsibilities and commoning.
Themes & Questions to Explore
In a country and city where water is both scarce and over-abundant – engineered, monitored, and extracted for human purposes – this open call invites artists, researchers, and activists to explore water’s multiple roles as a historical tool of colonialism and imperialism and as a possible source and metaphor of repair, healing and solidarity. Participants are invited to propose critical artistic positions addressing the intersections of (water) ecologies, community engagement and cultural renewal. Lead your audience on a voyage through diverse geographies, histories, temporalities, and soundscapes to rethink how water and other local ecologies can connect communities, regenerate cultural practices, and illuminate submerged histories.
Collective Action & Counter-Imaginaries
How can art, particularly sound and listening, challenge prevailing narratives, offer counter-imaginaries and create spaces for collective action, and inspire change in our communities?
Commons & Hyperlocality
How do shared resources and mutual learning contribute to addressing global issues on a local scale? How can small-scale initiatives create meaningful, sustainable impact? How can we develop solidarities within our communities to create many connecting islands of change?
Self-reflection, Unlearning & Discomfort
How do we challenge our existing institutions, unlearn the top-down knowledge structures that have historically silenced or marginalized other ways of knowing? How do we incorporate critical self-reflection into our practices and manage the possible discomfort of reaching out to voices in our communities that are outside of our own political circles?
Submerged Histories & New Kinships
Uncover submerged histories and reimagine relationships with water and ecological infrastructures. Investigate water’s role in colonial and capitalist expansion, including the history of canals, rivers, dams, and irrigation schemes. Explore water kinships and the ways cultural narratives are revived and reimagined through (new) ecological kinships and sensory engagements.
Eligibility & Submission Details
The stipend is offered within the framework of the In Situ/City-programme by the Ulysses Platform, designed to support emerging artists in developing their skills and exploring innovative practices. We welcome proposals from individual artists as well as collaborative teams and collectives.
Two spots are available
-Artist receive a stipend of €1000 and a tutoring by SONIC TOMORROW
-10 days of accommodation are covered (this can be a consecutive residency or can be split in two, a first leg in the Spring and a second during Gaudeamus Festival in September).
-Travel is covered
-Per diem (if food and drinks are not offered on location)
-The artist has to be EU-based, but an EU-passport is not required
What and Where?
Participants are encouraged to propose projects that not only interrogate the complex roles water plays in our social, ecological, and political landscapes but also actively engage with local communities to foster reciprocal learning and change.
Join us in reimagining water as a catalyst for cultural renewal and climate justice. With art, we can transform small interventions into powerful currents. Let’s create counter narratives and islands of change that resonate both locally and globally.
Details are available at web pages:
https://gaudeamus.nl/en/call/open-call-islands-of-change/
