OPEN CALL – SOIL

We are pleased to announce that Anna Siekierska has been selected for the artistic realization as part of the “Soil/Gleba” open call. Congratulations!

In response to the question about initial ideas for an artwork (we expect a full concept to be developed only after being invited to participate), she said:

“I am interested in ways to repair the damage caused to forests by logging. Deep logging roads create a dense network of wounds that, due to their depth, are difficult to heal. Rivers of mud – a mixture of valuable soil and water – flow through them. I want to create prototypes of structures that help heal these wounds and retain the mud in the forest. I am inspired by both the structures built by forest activists and those created by beavers. I would like to use found materials.”

Anna Siekierska – sculptor, cyclist, faculty member of the Sculpture Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and activist working to protect old forests. Co-author of numerous public space installations, socially engaged projects, and actions raising awareness about the life of other beings. She focuses on the complex network of relationships between humans and the more-than-human world. She spends a lot of time in various thickets and swamps. She enjoys swimming, hiking, and eating tomatoes (in season).

Soil is one of the most sensitive and large organs on this planet. Disturbed ecosystems as well as disturbed balances are reflected in its deteriorating quality. Polluted soils, deforestation, degraded soil, conflict over resources, agricultural monoculture: a lot of the climate change processes that are occurring can be linked to soil. At the same time, soil stores more than three times the amount of carbon than there is present in the atmosphere. Wetlands can be more effective carbon sinks than forests and a thriving soil improves the resilience against climate change, biodiversity and water quality. 

This open call encourages artists to reimagine and reshape the relationship between soil, humans and the rapidly changing balances on this earth. Is it a relation characterized by existential threats, or can we imagine positive exchanges between our species and the soil?

Whilst the guiding theme of this open call is soil, you are free to explore this topic through your preferred angle and local settings. We ask the artist to investigate their local (issues around) soil, and to be open to adjusting your practice to the site-specific conditions of this location.

In order to inspire ecological imagination, we need to inspire change and raise awareness. Artistic imagination stimulates (re)imagination, both within the ecological field as well as in and beyond the arts. With soil we aim to contribute to this (re)imagination, hence the topic and eco-sensitive proces of this open call. Next to that, we encourage the artist to document their process as a means to showcase their creative process and working methods. This documentation will be used in the digital or remote presentation of the work during Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus as well as a means to communicate the developments and lessons of this project to Creative Europe. 

The five works that will eventually make up SOIL are unique and yet related through the topic of soil and their shared approach of a site-specific focus. In addition, there are some moments of exchange with fellow artists and the European network in which you will work. Five artists or collectives (one in each participating country) will be selected to simultaneously create their own works locally. SOIL is open to any art discipline, but partners might select with regard to their respective expertise.

 If selected, artists participating in SOIL commit to a collaborative process taking place between September 2024 and June 2025. In this period you’ll create a work with an environmental angle through an eco-sensitive process. Most of your collaboration will be with your local commissioning partner but there will be some online and offline moments together with all five artists and commissioners throughout the season. The collaborating partners in Riga, Wroclaw, Ancona, Faro and Budapest are, respectively: Latvijas Jaunā Teātra Institūts, Art Transparent, Marche Teatro, Sciaena and Pro Progressione.

 This project includes an artist fee and production budget. Group application is allowed. But please note that the organizer will offer the same fee as for individuals.

Conditions of participation (please read carefully):

• You are an artist, working in Poland
• You are willing to share your working methods with fellow artists, the public and partners that are part of this open call. These working methods will be shared during the digital / remote presentation of your work during Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus and through representative documentation during and after the open call.
• You are able to participate in the artist retreat during 23-27 August 2024 (Latvia). Travel, accommodation and meals will be covered, fees are included in the project fee. Please note that English is spoken during the retreat, co communicatory command of the language is necessary.
• You are able to commit to a production process between September 2024 and June 2025.
• You are free to determine the specific time period in which you will work together with your commissioning partner (Art Transparent), as the fee won’t cover this whole time period. But take into account a few (online) meetings that can take place during this time period. These online sessions will occur between partners and artists and as well as among artists to share about the process and exchange experiences and inspiration.
• You are able to create a digital or remote presentation of your work that will be shown during Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus, in September 2025.

What will you get: 

• A cross-border and cross-disciplinary opportunity for exchange and artistic enrichment with fellow artists, including an artist retreat in Latvia (23-27 August 2024) facilitated by international practitioners.
• The opportunity to develop and/or expand your artistic practice through an ecological and site-specific  focus. 
• The exhibition of your work at in Wrocław at Survival Art Review in June 2025.
• A digital or remote presentation of your work during during Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus in September 2025. 
• An artist fee and production budget, in which the costs of travel and stay during the artist retreat are included. 

This call closes on May 20th 2024. You apply by filling out this form. Applications after this date will not be taken into consideration.

RULES OF THE CALL FOR ARTISTIC WORKS WITHIN THE “SOIL” PART OF “THE BIG GREEN” PROJECT

• 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS 

1. The organiser of the Polish part of the call for artistic works within the “SOIL” area (hereinafter: “Call”) is the ART TRANSPARENT Foundation (hereinafter: “Organiser”), which carries out the “THE BIG GREEN” project in partnership with organisations from Europe, including in particular: Latvijas Jaunā Teātra Institūts, Marche Teatro Sciaena and Collectief Walden (hereinafter: “Partners”).
2. The Call will take place from 25 April 2024 to 20 May 2024. 
3. The Call will select an artist or artists from Wrocław and the surrounding area who have displayed the greatest artistic competence in the area of the subject of the Call, and who will be invited to prepare an artistic work (hereinafter: “Participants”).
4. The working language of the Call is Polish. The ability to communicate in English is essential to participate in the project events.
5. These Rules are binding for the Organiser and the Participants; they regulate the terms and conditions of participation in the Call, the rights and obligations of the Organiser and the Participants.
6. The Rules are available for inspection at the Organiser’s office or at www.arttransparent.org.

• 2 Call for artistic works

1. The Call is open and takes the form of a competition.
2. Persons interested in participating in the Call shall send their applications including: the Application Form (with personal data and answers to questions), artistic portfolio and CV.
3. A link to the Application Form is available at www.arttransparent.org.
4. The Organiser reserves the right to freely select Participants based on the scope and artistic value of their portfolio and the assumptions of the Call. 
5. On the basis of the submitted applications, the Organiser shall select a person or persons who will be invited to produce the submitted proposal for an artistic work.
6. The Participants may not be members of the competition jury or persons who have been involved in the organisation and preparation of the competition. 
7. A contract will be concluded with the person or persons selected in the Call, which will specify the terms of remuneration and production of the artistic work. 
8. The Organiser shall provide a fee for the preparation of the artistic work of at least €1,000, and a budget for the production of the work of at least €2,000.

• 3 Rules of the Call

1. A Call Coordinator is appointed by the Organiser to carry out the organisational work and day-to-day correspondence connected with the Call: Ola Jach.
2. Correspondence, including applications to the Project, should be sent in electronic form to the following e-mail address: opencall@arttransparent.org, with the word “TBG” each time added in the subject line of the email.
3. The entries will be assessed by the Competition Jury. 
4. The Competition Jury will be composed of representatives of the Organiser and Partners.
5. Deadline for submitting the applications – by 20 May 2024. 
6. Deadline for announcing the Call results – by 30 June 2024. 
7. The selected artist or artistic collective will take part in a meeting in Latvia on 23–27 August 2024.
8. Deadline for preparing the artistic works – 30 March 2025.
9. The organiser reserves the right to change the deadlines contained herein.

• 4 Production of artistic works in the Project

1. The Competition Jury will select for production one proposal for an artistic work by one artist/collective. 
2. The production of the artistic work will take place with the Participant’s involvement, according to the production schedule agreed with the Organiser. 
3. The Organiser shall provide the Participant with technical and organisational assistance in the production of the artistic work, after prior agreement of technological details. 
4. In justified cases, the Organiser reserves the right to discontinue the production of the work and present it only in the form of description, sketches and documentation. 

• 5 Copyright 

1. By producing an artistic work as part of the Project, the Project Participant agrees to grant the Organiser an irrevocable licence, without time and territorial restrictions, to publicly present and promote their artistic work and to include it in film and photographic materials documenting the Call. The detailed rules for granting the licence and using the work, including the amount of remuneration for the granting of the licence, will be specified in an individual contract between the Participant and the Organiser. The Participant also agrees that the Organiser may sub-license the artistic work on the same terms to third parties (including in particular to the Project Partners).
2. The Participant shall retain all personal and economic copyrights to the artistic work to the extent that they have not transferred them to the Organiser in a separate agreement. The rules of returning the artistic work shall be specified in a separate agreement.
3. By submitting a proposal of a work for production within the Call, the Participant guarantees that the work does not, and will not, have any legal defects; simultaneously, the Participant assumes all possible claims of third parties connected with any financial and legal defects of the produced artistic work. The Participant shall be solely responsible for any legal defects in their artistic work.
4. In the case of the presentation of the artistic work after its production as a result of the Call, i.e. on the occasion of other exhibitions, festivals, cultural events, etc., the Participant is obliged to inform in all materials that the work was created on commission and with the funds of the Art Transparent Foundation within the framework of the Call, to provide information about the sources of financing, and to inform the Organiser of each public presentation of the artistic work. 

• 6 Final provisions 

1. Completing the Application Form and submitting the application is tantamount to accepting these Rules. 
2. The Organiser reserves the right to change the deadlines contained in these Rules.
3. The Participants’ personal data will be processed on the basis of Article 6(1)(a) of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), for the purpose of carrying out the Call, in particular for the purpose of enabling the Participants to participate in the Project, for the period necessary for these purposes. The data will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Personal Data Protection Act of 10 May 2018 (Journal of Laws 2018, item 1000). 
4. The controller of the personal data of the Participants is the Organiser, i.e. Art Transparent Foundation, ul. Ofiar Oświęcimskich 1/2, 55-069 Wrocław, KRS: 0000247340, NIP: 9151705192, Regon: 020216173, e-mail: fundacja@arttransparent.org 
5. For the purposes specified in §1(1 of thse Rules, the following personal data of the Participants will be processed: name, surname, telephone number, e-mail address and address of residence. 
6. Providing personal data by the Participants is voluntary; however, failing to provide such data may make it impossible to participate in the Project. Personal data obtained in connection with the conclusion and execution of the contract shall be processed exclusively for this purpose, or for the purpose of establishing and asserting claims or defending against claims. They may be transferred to other entities if there is a legal basis for doing so, or if the legitimate interest of the controller or a third party requires it. 
7. The Organiser, as the controller of personal data, may use processors to whom it entrusts the processing of data on its behalf, on the basis of a separate agreement. 
8. With regard to the processing of personal data by the Organiser, the Participant has the right to: 

• access their data and receive a copy of their data; 
• rectify (amend) their data; 
• have their personal data erased if the processing of their data does not take place in order to comply with an obligation arising from a legal provision or to exercise the legitimate interests of the controller or of a third party; 
• request the restriction of the processing of their data 
• object to the processing of their data; 
• lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority – President of the Office for Personal Data Protection (ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warsaw).