The European Alliance of Academies is launching a call for projects on the topic of biopolitics, exploring the relation between governments and their citizens, especially in the context of the (post)pandemic crisis. The call aims to challenge contemporary artists to reflect on their own practices in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the wake of ongoing societal and political shifts.
They invite proposals from artists whose works grapples with aspects of critical cultural research, especially on social and political issues furthered by the current pandemic. Participating artists may consider Michel Foucault’s concepts of biopolitics and biopower in explorations on social inequality, the impact of digital media on individuals and communities, the advent of the so-called fake-news and growing distrust in state governments. How did the pandemics underline the systemic flaws in contemporary societies and what other opportunities of change are there to be considered?
Proposals should entail interdisciplinary research based on innovative methods and strategies in the digital/technological sphere and delve into the different aspects of transformative and reflective artmaking. Taking into consideration recent studies on the far-reaching negative effects of COVID-19 on women across domains – from gendered divisions of labour to economic stability – proposals focusing on gender inequality are encouraged.
The selected artists will be invited to create an artwork in their preferred artistic discipline, but mainly in a digital format, based on the concept of the project and using artistic research methodology. Artistic research will take the form of residences and workshops, physical or digital, with the findings shared via digital forms of cooperation and presentations – corresponding to the open-ended, process-oriented and participative nature of digital artworks.
This call for projects is directed at artists and students from all artistic disciplines who are represented by the institutions and academies of the European Alliance of Academies. In order to foster European artistic co-creation, applications from artistic duos from different countries of the European Union will be viewed favourably.
Work will take place until 15 April 2022, with online presentations scheduled for May - December 2022. The European Alliance of Academies can fund each artistic project selected up to 5000 euros plus a
lump sump for material and production, relative to the artistic discipline.
