La Banda dei Bandi: SYNTAX open call 2025

The student-led initiative SYNTAX have released their second open call seeking contributions for the monument STAGE OF LIGHT and their annual publication SYNTAX MAGAZINE. Having already reported about their venture in October 2024, we want to spread the word about their newest open call with the title ACAB – ALL CONFLICTS ARE BEAUTIFUL.

OPEN CALL DESCRIPTION

We as humans love conflicts and we love seeing conflicts. It is a captivating subject that draws our attention. Our fascination with conflict manifests in our hunger for imagery from war zones, in football hooliganism and toxic masculinity, or in plain old gossip. Humans seem to be inherently drawn to conflict, and our media feeds are saturated with war footage right alongside the latest influencer drama. The United States is deeply divided on numerous issues, resulting in constant encounters with diametrically opposing viewpoints. Conflict has long been a popular strategy employed by politicians to divert the public gaze from domestic problems and towards foreign policy matters, like with the 9/11 attacks or Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Netanyahu’s brutal military campaign in Gaza and Lebanon.

Violence has become an integral part of mass culture. Counter-Strike tournaments, where players engage in virtual battles between terrorists and local police forces, attract millions of viewers. Who either kills all opponents or detonates/defuses the bomb first gets crowned as the winner. Hollywood has consistently portrayed heroism in war for a century, and we find ourselves inexplicably drawn to these narratives. There appears to be a cathartic effect in witnessing death and violence in images, which we seem to crave.

The statement “All conflicts are beautiful” goes beyond aesthetics and the need to deal with representations of war. It serves as a testament to the mission of SYNTAX. Our goal is to facilitate discourse and engage in conversations. We refuse to avoid challenging topics and treat conflicting voices with the utmost seriousness.

OPEN CALL GUIDE

The open call is aimed at the afore mentioned student community, yet it is not limited to it. Contributions are accepted from people attending any kind of school. Through the open call, the SYNTAX editorial board tries to collect the voices of the students on a certain topic, sometimes chosen or suggested by the student community itself. Their voices are collected and curated within the SYNTAX MAGAZINE and the monument STAGE OF LIGHT. The voices of the students take shape through free contributions, which can be sent directly to the following e-mail until the 7th of February 2025: syntaxbolzano@gmail.com 

© Daniel Walcher

For the SYNTAX MAGAZINE, contributions must be able to be printed on paper. The only resctriction is the materiality of the medium. Otherwise, we welcome all types of texts, illustrations, drawings, photographs, reviews, poems, articles, essays, comics, short stories, research, drawings, drafts, interviews, reports, battleraps, etc.

We accept contributions sent from other cities in Italy as well as from other parts of the world. Likewise, contributions can be produced in any language you prefer. 

© Daniel Walcher

For the monument STAGE OF LIGHT we accept mainly videos. As this is a horizontal walkable outdoor LED screen, the way in which the produced material can be seen differs fundamentally from the screen of a smartphone, monitor, television or cinema projection. We therefore recommend that you contact the SYNTAX editorial team to test the video directly on the monument.

Intrigued? Maybe Conflicted? Check out SYNTAX's Instagram for further info on the open call and the project in general.