Call open 01.04.2024 – 26.04.2024.
Application deadline: 26.04.2024 at midnight (EET).
All applicants will be informed about the selection results by 17.05.2024.
KORDON now invites artist duos from Europe to participate in the rethinking of abandoned military landscape and architecture. We are accepting applications from creative professionals who work as couples. Artists, architects, landscape architects, curators, cultural producers and all other professional practicioners from other relevant fields are most welcome to apply. The 7-week residency program will take place from 5th September to 23rd October 2024 and provides an opportunity to thoroughly deal with the TIME LAP topic in the context of Hiiumaa island and the Baltic Sea.
The Second World War began with the loss of the ship-seamark “Necmansgrund” and its local crew which was sunk by a Nazi torpedo boat close the Hiiumaa Island – at that moment the islanders became aware of the start of an unexpected war in 1940. Abandoned bunkers, defense ditches, shooting pits, shooting platforms, border guard towers form a pattern in a beautiful landscape, reminders of the dark side of the history of the island. Defense lines and military facilities were built in Hiiumaa which is at the crossroads of shipping lanes in Baltic Sea during WWI and II. There is also a large amount of military objects from the 50-years of Soviet regime, when the island was the westernmost border zone of the Soviet Empire.
Right now, when there is a war in Europe, the question of its consequences for the environment and the local community has raised in focus. How to deal with the complex legacy of war? How to rethink, repurpose and reuse military architecture to heal the wounds of the past? In what way to transform the gloomy shadows of the past into a modern spatial art experience? Time and space, past and future, everything is connected, one affects the other. In the present moment, dealing with the past, we look to the future, this is the TIME LAP.
GOAL
Every place has its unique historical and cultural memory. It is often the military sites that evoke dark thoughts. At the same time, the local community has inevitably become accustomed to and accepting of the military sites and the altered landscapes and atmosphere they create. With the help of the professional artists involved in the project, the residency will provide a fresh perspective on the topic. The goal of the residency is to generate creative ideas for the reuse of military architecture and landscape. We explore practice-based thinking and doing though discussions, tests, sketches, prototypes, proposals and propositions. The mediums and forms of expression produced as part of these processes can be sculptural, conceptual, architectural, social, living, and/or participatory in nature. The aim is that everyone ends the residency with a new beginning – this could be arriving at a point where a longer-term project begins.
KORDON Time Lap is led by the curators Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla and Urmo Vaikla.
SELECTION
We are looking for creative professionals who are working as artist couple and are willing to share a bedroom/studio during residency. Applicants must be legal residents in Creative Europe countries, except Estonia (detailed list here). The applicant must be willing to participate in the residency program full-time and to arrive and depart from the residency from/to their home country. Residents are expected to be ready to relate to the local community and local context. The jury selects the artists based on their previous work and the presented vision for the theme of the residency program. The final selection will be done after virtual interview.
STRUCTURE
The length of the residency is a total of 49 days, which starts on 05.09.2024 and ends on 23.10.2024. The residency begins with familiarization with the local community and Hiiumaa island in the context of the residency topic. This is followed by an independent creative process, studio visits by mentors and the open studio sessions. We are immersed in a neighborhood and can maintain a continuous dialogue with a particular place/site/situation/public. The residency ends with an exhibition.
WHAT WE OFFER
KORDON offers mentorship throughout the residency to find and discover connections between the topic and creative processes together. We help establish contacts with the local community and experts in the field. Accommodation is in the newly reconstructed residency house in double bedroom/studios. Each person will receive a daily allowance €25 (include taxes) / per day (to contribute to daily subsistence, such as local transports, meals, etc.). We cover travelling costs €350 – €700 for round-trip per person (depending on distance and mode of travel. We encourage sustainable ways of travelling and offer green mobility top-up €350 for artists who travel green (no air travel).
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, each applicant is asked to compile the following into pdf files:
- Short CV as a one/two-page document with a summary of personal information and contact details, relevant education, and professional experience.
- Portfolio
- Answers to the following questions:
– The name of the partner with whom you are applying.
– How do you relate your practice to this residency cycle and the proposed topic?
(max. 500 words)
– How would this residency contribute to the development of your research and practice? (max. 250 words)
– How did you find out about this open call (website, newsletter, social media etc)?
Deadline: 26th of April, 2024 at midnight (EET).
Please send your application to: opencall@kordon.ee
Questions regarding the application process can be directed to the same e-mail address.
For more info, visit the KORDON website.
All text and images in this post © KORDON.
KORDON is operated by non-profit artist-run organization KORDONair MTÜ, founded by the team of Vaikla Studio. The studio creates and reflects on SPACE in different areas (Architecture & Arts, Interior, Film, Scenography), working on site-specific projects in practice and on research level. Their works have been exhibited internationally: Venice Architecture Biennale, Architecture Film Festival Vienna, Rotterdam, Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Tretyakov Gallery, the Venue of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of EU in Tallinn and Brussels, etc.
The curatorial team:
Urmo Vaikla, interior architect / Ann Mirjam Vaikla, scenographer & curator /
Ingel Vaikla, filmmaker / Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla PhD, spatial researcher & interior architect / Rasmus Stenager Jensen (KORDON LAB on Food and Energy), performing artist.