The Creative Europe-funded project CONTESTED DESIRES: Constructive Dialogues (CDCD) is calling for applications from visual artists who are passionate about unravelling colonial legacies and who are based in Tunisia, Ghana, Hungary, Chile, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, the Netherlands or the UK.
CDCD is a 3-year arts and heritage programme which offers a unique international opportunity for to take part in a 3-year funded programme of residences, exhibitions and knowledge exchange. CDCD aims to challenge the destabilising and divisive impact of the current political landscapes of Europe and beyond, where the response to the complexities, diversity and expansion of communities continues to be met with fearmongering, discrimination and exclusion.
CDCD will engage contemporary artists to consider the problematic legacy of European colonialism held in museum collections and represented across heritage sites and public spaces. These spaces will provide rich starting points for artistic research and interaction.
Eligible artists must have a participatory and socially engaged visual arts practice, including but not limited to drawing, printmaking, photography, film, digital, sound, installation, or performance.
CDCD will select 22 artists across their partner countries and each artist will participate in activities from September 2024 to November 2026.
Activities include:
- A month-long international residency, concluding with a presentation of work in progress. This will be a joint residency alongside one other CDCD artist from one of the partner countries.
- A two-week group residency in a different country with 2–4 CDCD artists where the artwork will be adapted to the local context, concluding with a larger exhibition of artwork and a seminar.
- A two-week group residency with all 22 CDCD artists to adapt artwork to a site-specific setting in a rural Cypriot context, followed by a final presentation of artwork at Xarkis Festival, Cyprus.
- Two international knowledge exchange workshops. Artists will attend 2 out of 4 workshops exploring the themes of participatory practices, environment, gender and social inclusion in relation to CDCD.
- Support to develop a digital presentation for an online exhibition.
- Evaluation and production meetings (as required).
An artist fee (5,800–9,050 EUR, depending on location), as well as travel, accommodation, daily per diems for subsistence and production materials, will be provided.