La Banda dei Bandi: Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen Call for Application

Institution

Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen is a post-graduate center for production, research, and exchange in the fields of visual arts and art theory. Within the framework of the Fellowship Program for Art and Theory, the institution provides a platform that facilitates the development and production of artistic and art-theoretical projects in a critical context. At the same time, it provides a forum for direct exchange between professionals—artists, theoreticians, critics, and curators—from the region and abroad, as well as a point of interaction with local, interested audiences. Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen is affiliated with the Tiroler Künstler*schaft (the Tyrolean Artists‘ Association), the major association of visual artists from the region.

Büchsenhausen brings together two programs under one roof. On the one hand, it is the site of the Fellowship Program for Art and Theory. On the other hand, it is the location of several studios for artists based in Tyrol who are looking for a working space in a professionally interesting environment. Four apartment studios are used by the participants in the Fellowship Program. The other six studios are available to artists based in Tyrol. The project and presentation space is equipped with multimedia facilities and is at the fellows‘ disposal.

Fellowship Program

With its Fellowship Program for Art and Theory, Büchsenhausen promotes internationally relevant artistic production, research, and discussion in the region of Tyrol. The program is based on the idea of generating and maintaining a context for production and discussion, in which artists and theorists can connect and reflect on international art and societal discourses in relation to local topics and issues. At the same time, it affords the opportunity for an artistic laboratory of experimentation, where new artistic practices and strategies may be tried out.

The program’s aims are:

• to promote and relay a critical, socially relevant production of knowledge in art and art theory;
• to produce, through the fellowship projects, qualified discourses on art and society within the local and global contexts;
• to enable the transfer of knowledge between the field of art and other public spheres outside the art context;
• to facilitate exchange between cultural producers in the visual arts and beyond (creating a network of experts).

The program combines the advantages of a residency with the possibilities of a postgraduate, non-academic research and production fellowship on the basis of an open, non-formalized structure. In terms of content, the program addresses a worldwide public made up of professionals in the fields of contemporary art, architecture, art and media theory, as well as criticism.

The Fellows are selected by a jury of experts following an open call for applications. They come to Büchsenhausen for a minimum of five months to work on realizing their proposed undertaking and accompany this process with public events. For this purpose, Büchsenhausen assigns a monetary award and provides a production budget, a budget to facilitate the exchange with other experts and to (at least partially) cover the Fellows‘ own travel costs, free access to the working space, free lodging, as well as artistic and technical advice.

The conveyance and discussion of the Fellows’ own work occur parallel to the development of the individual proposals. The focus of the public events is determined by the respective emphases of the various Fellows‘ works. Within the framework of these discursive formats, the Fellows (or their guests) can present various points in their investigations, open up their works-in-progress to critical discussion, interact with experts who they invite, work through content with the public, and/or try out new ways of working.

The Fellowship Year starts with the Orientation Weeks at the beginning of October. The Orientation Weeks end with the Start Up Lectures and the opening of the autumn/fall exhibition by the Fellows. During the Focus Weeks in January and March, the Fellows and/or their guests publicly discuss issues related to their ongoing work, enjoy an intense exchange with their colleagues in the program, and carry out cooperation activities with other university and non-university partners and institutions. The Fellowship Year ends with a group exhibition curated by the artistic director of the Fellowship Program. The opening of the show takes place in the middle of May.

In the recent past, Fellows occasionally collaborated with other artists/professionals based in the greater Innsbruck region. Cooperation activities have been carried out, among others with the University of Innsbruck (Institute for Comparative Literary Studies, Institute for Architectural Theory, the Research Group ‘Cultural Encounters—Cultural Conflicts’, the Research Center ‘Migration and Globalization’, Institute for Pedagogy, the Italy Center, the Russia Center etc.), the Network Gender Research and the Working Group ‘Global Learning’ of Südwind Tyrol (in both of which Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen is an active member) etc. Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen encourages the candidates for a fellowship to take the opportunity for such collaboration into consideration.

For former and current Fellows and their realized work please visit buchsenhausen.at/en/fellows/.

Fellowship

• a monetary award of EUR 3,700;
• an individual studio for working and living, furnished with a large shared kitchen;
• a production budget for the realization of the submitted proposal;
• a budget for inviting experts to Büchsenhausen for the purpose of professional exchange;
• a budget for covering the own travel costs (in relation to the Fellowship Program);
• the opportunity for a group exhibition at the end of the fellowship;

Facilities

• free access to the ‚Lab‘, the project/gallery space;
• free use of the available multimedia production equipment in the ‚Lab‘;
• free Highspeed-DSL/WLAN Internet access;
• professional artistic advice;
• technical advice if required.

Eligibility

Professional visual/media artists, art theorists, art critics, and curators from all over the world are eligible for the fellowship.

Requirements

The application must include a concrete work proposition. Work on the submitted proposal forms the core of each Fellow’s activities during his/her stay in Büchsenhausen. A description of a series of public events intended to accompany the individual work during the duration of the fellowship (up to three events) is also an integral part of the working proposal. If the application is successful, the Fellows are required to specify the details of the presentation series and carry out the proposed program.

The Fellows commit themselves to be present at Büchsenhausen for the duration of the fellowship. Working knowledge of English is required.

Selection

The selection of Fellows is made by a jury of experts and based on the quality, originality, and relevance of the proposed undertaking as well as the work samples submitted by the applicants. The jury consists of the director of Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, a member of the advisory board at the Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, and one external expert.

The selection procedure occurs in two stages:

First, the submitted applications are evaluated and the jury makes a shortlist of candidates who will be invited to Büchsenhausen for personal interviews.

Second, the applicants have to present their working plans and aims during the fellowship personally via interview in Innsbruck, or via video conference (for instance Skype).

For a personal interview in Innsbruck, Büchsenhausen will pay for accommodation for one night, however, will not cover the travel costs to Innsbruck.
There is no legal right to be awarded a fellowship at Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen. For this reason, the jury is under no obligation to justify decisions. The jury’s decision will be communicated in written form in March 2020 (first stage) and April 2020 (second stage).

Application procedure

Applications are to be written in English. The jury acknowledges that consideration must be taken for submissions by non-native English speakers regarding issues of spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure.

Applications must include the following printed documents:

artists:
• the working proposal (max 1,500 words, printed form, 3 copies)
• visual portfolio/documentation of recent work. The portfolio can be submitted in paper form (max. 2 catalogs/portfolios), on DVD, CD or USB stick (max. 1 DVD/CD/USB stick), or digitally via a permanent link (no time-limited download links like WeTransfer!)
• curriculum vitae (printed form, 3 copies)
• completed and signed application form (printed form, 1 copy)

theorists/art critics:
• the working proposal (max 1,500 words, printed form, 3 copies)
• 1 recent writing sample (printed form, 3 copies)
• curriculum vitae (printed form, 3 copies)
• completed and signed application form (printed form, 1 copy)

Please note that only submissions sent by post are accepted.
Too late received and incomplete applications will not be included in the selection process.

The electronic application form can be found here.
After filling out the electronic application form you will receive a confirmation e-mail.

The address to which the applications must be posted is:
Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen
Ref.: „Fellowship 2020-21“
Weiherburggasse 13
6020 Innsbruck
Austria

Closing date for submissions (postmark): Fri 31 January, 2020

For additional information please check out our FAQ or else contact:
fellowship@buchsenhausen.at, phone +43 512 278627, fax -11.