OPEN CALL
Selection panel: Maija Rudovska (LV) with Triin Metsla (kmS), Ann Mirjam Vaikla (Narva Art Residency), Heiti Kulmar (TartMUS), Anne Rudanovski (TKK)
Remembrance of Things Past, and Future Promises
Every generation says life speeds up, and although the latest advances are introduced to improve our quality of life this pattern continues. People in authority promise a better future and at the same time we are reminded of times lost and the things we don’t have time for anymore. It is as if we are stuck in a time loop in which we are never really present.
On a day-to-day basis, we are confronted with memory – voluntary or involuntary, personal or collective, in news, films, pop music, theatre, art, literature, public monuments and even architecture – presenting us with lost time, the time that will never be again. After the industrial revolution people moved to the cities to find jobs and education. These cities became cosmopolitan, and regional towns slowly became less important as centres. This phenomenon is especially evident in post-Soviet countries, where it is still taking place and where regional communities seem to have become out-of-sight out-of-mind. Is it better to preserve something that has already gone or encourage something new? The fourth Kilometre of Sculpture invites you to step out of this uncertainty to contemplate our memory of things past, and future promises, that may or may not be realised.
Kilometre of Sculpture (kmS) is an international outdoor exhibition of contemporary art which takes place in the regional towns of Estonia. So far, the exhibition has been presented in Rakvere (2014, 2016) and Võru (2015). After a pause in 2017, the next kmS will take a wider approach to the question of art in the public space in regional Estonia. Instead of one city, kmS will take place in three cities, having three consecutive exhibitions in Rakvere, Tartu and Narva.
We therefore invite artists based anywhere working in all disciplines and genres to respond to the preamble above in order to apply to exhibit as part of the 4th Kilometre of Sculpture. This can be explored through a work that already exists or a new work you envisage specifically for one of the host towns. We encourage artists to respond to specific qualities in the host towns, and to work in and with the local communities. To facilitate that process, successful artists will benefit from one of two opportunities for direct research in the host towns. First, a weekend site visit in spring will be organised for the artists to explore the town(s) up close. Second, for those artists that indicate an interest in our residency program, each town will offer residency places for up to 2 artists (read more about the residency below). Those artists that come for the residency will therefore not be included in the spring weekend site visits since the residency already provides sufficient direct contact.
Residency program
A new residency facility will be prepared in Rakvere for 2018; in Narva and Tartu existing facilities will be made available to successful applicants that express an interest in the residency option in their application. The aim of the residency is to work thoroughly on a specific site – whether a physical public space or an aspect of the local social scene. The residency can be a place for developing socially engaged and community based projects or it can also offer more dynamic participatory forms. These kinds of artistic interactions and initiatives provide a meeting place for diverse artistic approaches, an exchange of knowledge, activities and shared experiences.
The exhibitions will be open consecutively for 10 days in each town during the summer period from around 30 June and ending in mid-August. Residencies will be available for a maximum of 2 artists in each town and will run for 4–6 weeks before the exhibitions open.
How to apply
1. Familiarise yourself with the open call (above) and the three host towns.
- Link to Narva city web-page
- Link to Tarty city web-page
- Link to web-page about Rakvere
2. Read the terms and conditions for applying to kmS - download here
3. Fill out the kmS application form - download here*
4. Prepare supporting documentation (images, CV)
5. Submit application and supporting documents to:
by 10 March 2018
You will receive notification of the results of your application within 3 weeks of the closing date.
- If you have trouble filling in the application form, among a number of solutions, the online tool at PDF Buddy works quite well.