NEXES POBLE NOU - BCN | 2019
RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC EXPERIMENTATION / WORK - IN TRANSITION
SELECTED PROJECTS
IDENSITAT + LA ESCOCESA
Idensitat and La Escocesa have selected three projects presented to the open call NEXES POBLE NOU / Research and Artistic Experimentation 2019:
- FROM THE ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENT TO THE SUBJECTIVATION THROUGH THE FISSURE AS METAPHOR / DEL ANÁLISIS DEL ENTORNO A LA SUBJETIVACIÓN A TRAVÉS DE LA GRIETA COMO METÁFORA. _(Guillermo Moreno)
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This is a project of analysis and investigation of the social and urban reality of Poblenou, based on the image of cracks in the city’s pavement as a metaphor for evidence of a basic structural fracture. It is intended to connect and re-position different realities on the map built up through collective and subjective interpretation, where the idea of fissuring takes on multiple nuances and representations. Various meetings will be held with neighbourhood social organisations, with the objective of weaving a social fabric, mounting activities in the urban environment, and subsequently sharing progress reports and results in different contexts, both informal and institutional.
The project works on building a relationship between the social fabric, artistic institutions and urban criticism.
- OFFICE OF LIES. MANY POSSIBILITIES, FEW PROBABILITIES / GABINETE DE LAS MENTIRAS. POSIBILIDADES MUCHAS, PROBABILIDADES POCAS_ (TMTMTM)
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An archive-collection of stories, forming a platform for real experiences on precariousness, abuse of power, overexploitation of personal symbolic capital, anxiety, frustration, manipulation of expectations and bad practices in the artistic/cultural sector of the city of Barcelona.
Through a number of guests to publicly discuss these issues, together with the set-up of the archive, it is intended to explore the possibility of generating a community of resistance, an uprising or an agreement on minimum, ethical and contractual requirements for institutions and cultural projects. Especially for those who live in, or who will live in, the artistic district of Poblenou, an area understood, by the collective, as being one of high creative speculation.
The project works on establishing a connection between precariousness in creative practices, symbolic capital and institutional criticism.
- DISTRICT LABOUR-TOPIAS. COLLECTIVE REGISTER WORKSHOP_ (Laura Arensburg, Julieta Obiols)
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How do changes in work register in urban space? What shapes do vocational work take on in a context of crisis? Is it possible to use audiovisual tools to imagine other kinds of futures with regard to work and the neighbourhood?
This project’s main focus is a video workshop with teenagers from the district of Poblenou to record how we experience the neighbourhood’s corners, routines and rhythms, activating their sense of vision to uncover everyday unguarded behaviours, and broadening their sensitive perception of their surroundings.
The projects connects teenagers with art and creativity in the urban context.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
WHAT DO WE THINK OF, WHEN WE THINK OF A FISSURE?
Datum. From the analysis of the environment to subjectivation using fissures as a metaphor. _ (Guillermo Moreno)
Fissuring in the city’s pavement stands as a metaphor for the evidence of a basic structural fracture, but also as a vacuum in which there are endless possibilities to reimagine the district, and to reconsider ourselves as interconnected inhabitants.
The project aims to generate questions around the concept of the fissure from which to collectivise and share a few of the neighbourhood’s different struggles, as well as to lend them visibility within the artistic community and vice versa, establishing a link between La Escocesa and its surroundings. Granting La Escocesa the porosity that it needs, putting the institution at the service of the neighbourhood in which it lives. Reclaiming the idea of La Escocesa as a textile factory and turning it into a factory for weaving a social fabric.
The purpose of these meetings is to carry out different activities of dialogue, reflection and debate based on free artistic experimentation and without any technical pretensions, as a vehicular instrument for the production of collective ideas and experiences.
Throughout the process, a documentary will be produced as a "log" in order to keep a record of what was constructed during the process.
ACTIVITIES
27/6/19 from 11:30 am – 7 pm. // La Escocesa. Carrer de Pere IV, 345, 08020 Barcelona
“Learning, modelling, and imagining based upon fissuring” (Activation of the dialogue and cooperation group)
11:30 am – 12:30 pm Visit to the facilities of La Escocesa, and the workshops of resident artists who wish to participate in the project.
12: 30 am – 3 pm Commando food: prepare food together and eat together.
3 pm – 4 pm Quick meeting to share, and to present the route through Poble Nou.
4 pm – 6 pm Route through the neighbourhood to look for and to analyse different fissures, using clay to turn the fissures into moulds, using these symbolically to begin the “germination” and “occupation” of the empty space which remains between the walls of a fissure.
6:30 pm – 7 pm Meeting to share what was done during the day, to draw conclusions, and to ask questions to be raised in the next sessions.
- 1/7/19 and 4/7/19 at 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm // La Escocesa. Carrer de Pere IV, 345, 08020 Barcelona
"The fissure as a possibility" (experimental practices)
Experimental work with artistic materials.
EXHIBITION
12/9/19 at 8 pm // Ateneu Popular Flor de Maig. C / Doctor Trueta, 195, 08005 Barcelona
A curatorial work was carried out at the end of the workshop using material produced by the participants. The results will be presented in an exhibition format at the Ateneu Flor de Maig, where the documentary will be screened.
- OFFICE OF LIES. MANY POSSIBILITIES, FEW PROBABILITIES_ (TMTMTM)
Based on a series of meetings in La Escocesa, chosen participants with a connection to artistic practices such as production, curatorship or management are invited to talk about the precarious situation of the artistic context in the city of Barcelona.
Meeting # 1 with Mariona Moncunill.
In this first meeting, Mariona Moncunill suggests that we approach some of the causes and emotional consequences of our reactions to abusive work practices based on a brief interactive talk that links memories of her childhood with some of her experiences of the precariousness and bad practices in the art world. MEETING SUMMARY HERE
Meeting # 2. Whoever pays the piper, calls the tune. With Gisela Chillida
In this second meeting, "Whoever pays the piper, calls the tune", Gisela Chillida proposes a round table discussion in order to collectively raise specific questions:
If whoever pays gets to decide, who pays for the arts? Who pays the artists? Do we really know where the funds come from? If whoever pays gets to decide, how far should the State become involved? How has "big money" interfered? What role should "civil society" play? If whoever pays gets to decide, does art have to sustain itself? Was ten, then, also profitable? If whoever pays gets to decide, what models are there? What models can we follow? How should we organise ourselves in the face of competition and the self-made artist? Assemblies? Work groups? This first session is not about answering questions, but opening them up to zero in on the core of the problem. SESSION SUMMARY HERE
Meeting # 3. The role of the artist in good professional practices, with Joan Morey
A major consideration which must be taken into account in order to enjoy a healthy artistic context is that everyone involved (both artists and curators, intermediaries of all kinds, or those responsible for spaces of dissemination for art, art galleries, etc.) assume their task in a responsible and professional manner. For this reason, it is essential to understand and respect "good practices" in order to obtain a fair, balanced and satisfactory professional relationship for all parties involved. During this meeting some of the basic principles on which good professional practices are based will be discussed, emphasising those aspects in which the artist is most responsible. Applying good professional practices is everyone’s commitment, and its normalisation in the artistic field allows for the establishment of a structure for honest work, and consequently, for the creation of a solid and transparent basis for a working relationship. MEETING SUMMARY HERE
Meeting # 4. Speculative fictions surrounding the production of art. A session led by Andreu Belsunces.
Previous sessions with the Office of Lies have examined critical analysis and the presentation of various discourses around artistic work: emotional consequences in the defence of good treatment and good practices, traceability of economic resources and the social role of art, responsibility or blame in the bad practice. During this meeting, Andreu Belsunces will activate a speculative dynamic through which to weave fictions and spin-offs, that may lead to the discovery of possibile action.
DISTRICT LABOUR-TOPIAS. COLLECTIVE RECORDING WORKSHOP_ (Laura Arensburg, Julieta Obiols)
Friday, November 22 in La Escocesa.
Showing and debate based on videos created by teenagers from the Front Maritim secondary school, in which they consider their future working lives in the context of the Poblenou neighbourhood.
How does urban space register changes in work environments? What forms do vocational work assume in a context of crisis? How do we use audio-visual tools to imagine other futures in work and for the neighbourhood?
Following a collectively created map, we leave the premises to walk the streets and activate our gaze in order to reveal everyday automatism, and to expand our sensitive perception of the environment. Together with students from the Front Maritim secondary school, we start by observing the context, looking deeply at the spaces around the context, and the singular vocational projection in order to consider these issues as a group until a collective representation has been generated.
We will project the videos which have been recorded in which students express themselves about their future working lives in the district of Poblenou, and share the thoughts which have arisen in the process, in order to promote a debate from the perspective of teenagers about their employment opportunities in this context.
- LABORO-TOPÍAS DEL BARRIO. TALLER DE REGISTRO COLECTIVO_ (Laura Arensburg, Julieta Obiols)
Shortly we will publish the details of the projects, as well as their work process.
OPEN CALL RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC EXPERIMENTATION
Open call for projects by IDensitat and La Escocesa on the theme of "Work - In transition"
The main objective is to open up a channel of artistic research to explore the transformations and new imaginaries that affect concepts such as "work", "worker", "creative class", "factory", "production" "creative industries", "unemployment", "work flexibility", "division of labour" "entrepreneurship", "precariousness", "relocation", or other related words, and the relationships among them. At the same time, it is hoped that selected projects will involve people or groups from Barcelona’s Poble Nou district, always within the procedural logic of the project. The theme proposed here will be adapted to the "transitional" nature of the space at La Escocesa, as well as that of the neighbourhood, affecting equally the form as it does the structure or its function, as it has affected these things for quite some time. With this call, we seek to promote the intersection and the connections between research, experimentation, artistic practices and social space.
1. Object
The project of research and experimentation in the visual arts may be an individual or a collective project. It must be defined on the basis of the content, conceptualisation, methodology, planning and collectivisation strategies which it brings within a determinate artistic line, or around the work or the artistic career of the applicant, and always referring to the proposed theme.
Projects of research and experimentation projects are understood to be those which do not place a strong emphasis on the production of work, but rather those which cause their own creative processes to generate dynamics of collective participation (workshops, participatory performances, actions or representations open to the public, etc.), nuclei of conceptualisation and generation of contents (conferences, conversations, publications, etc.), and experimental projects of trial and error which emphasise the process and not the presentation of a finished work.
Although they may start out from the nucleus of a pre-existing work, or an ongoing line of artistic research, the proposals must emphasise a process to take place during a specific period of time (within 2019) and following a defined methodology, a defined schedule of actions and a detailed budget to cover the necessary expenses to develop the proposals.
2. Requirements of the applicants
To apply for this call, applicants must have a proven artistic career, and must reside in the area of Barcelona during the calendar period marked by the development of the presented project.
In the case of applicants who are resident artists in La Escocesa, they must be aware of their statutory obligations as members of the Association of Ideas EMA, in charge of the management of La Escocesa.
Applicants may submit a maximum of two projects, taking into account that only one of them may be selected.
3. Award system
The award will be granted on a competitive basis and according to principles of objectivity, equality, non-discrimination and publicity, guaranteeing the transparency of the actions involved in the process. Selection of proposals will take place with a jury shared between Idensitat and La Escocesa.
4. Period and place of realisation
Selected projects must be carried out within the calendar year 2019, and in the designated venue (La Escocesa). The schedule of activities submitted must be carried out during this period. It is anticipated that scheduled activities will take place in La Escocesa, although the possibility of using spaces outside the centre, or of carrying out activities which do not require a physical place, may be considered.
5. Budget and Fees
The budget should be adapted to the project and its needs, and must reflect the following considerations:
- Fees for the artist applicant, calculated according to the criterion of 40 euros of per diem allowance, although the applicant may make a global estimate, calculating the days dedicated to the project.
- Production costs of the project.
The budget is 2,000 euros gross and will be subject to the assessment of the budget adjustment to the project.
6. Application and documentation
In order to participate in this call, the applicant must present the following documentation:
- application form, which includes the research and artistic experimentation project, the methodology to follow, a calendar proposal and an itemised budget estimate;
- file showing recent work or research (links may be included);
- resume, in the case of artists from outside La Escocesa.
Documentation must be included in a single pdf file, and sent via e-mail to the address
> DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM
7. Evaluation criteria
Evaluation of the applications will be made in accordance with the following criteria:
- artistic interest of the project: interest of the research in relation to the proposed subject matter, significant contribution of content, interest of the methodology or degree of experimentation;
- development of the project: correct planning of the methodology and coherence in the calendar; Adaptation of the budget to the methodological proposal and the calendar, as well as to the low budget requirements of this call; evaluation of the strategies for the creation of communities;
- Applicant's career path: applicant's curriculum.
8. Selection process
In order to carry out the selection of candidates, a jury formed by members of the teams of IDensitat and of La Escocesa will be constituted.
The jury’s decision will be communicated to applicants during the month of April 2019, and will be final.
Through the websites of IDensitat and La Escocesa, the resolution of the call and the names of the grant recipients will be made public, once they have agreed by email to participate in this project.
9. Terms and conditions
Selected works will be the property of the author or authors. IDensitat and La Escocesa, as the organisations promoting NEXES / POBLE NOU, may reproduce and disseminate through all online publications or in paper format all or part of the programme, always quoting the respective authors and collaborating agents. IDensitat and La Escocesa may archive all documentation generated in this call.
Grant recipients must assume responsibility for the correct development of the actions proposed in the calendar and included in the project.
Grant recipients will receive the amount of money requested in a schedule of payments agreed between IDensitat and La Escocesa, and will assume the commitment of ensuring that the budget is adjusted to the project as it is being developed.
Grant recipients will undertake to periodically report on the activities and the correct development of the project, as well as any possible modifications which may arise.
IDensitat and La Escocesa will assist grant recipients in fulfilling their needs for the correct development of the project, offering special advice and continuing support in the matter of conceptualisation, production and communication.
Grant recipients will undertake to comply with the rules of use of La Escocesa, should they need to use the space.
The grant recipients agree to include in the communication and dissemination of all public interventions, that these form part of the NEXES / POBLE NOU project promoted by IDensitat and La Escocesa. The means of delivery of the expected results will be agreed in advance, depending upon the nature of the selected project. The organisation will also be involved in the communication and socialisation of the results.
10. Acceptance of the bases
The presentation of the application to participate in NEXES / POBLE NOU implies applicants’ acceptance of the above rules.
Information and enquiries:
Information and enquiries:
This open call is the result of the collaboration between the NEXES project of IDensitat and the Research and Artistic Experiment Scholarship of La Escocesa.