OPEN CALL: CURATORS’ AGENDA RESEARCH RESIDENCY, VIENNA 2022 / C’A: RR VIENNA

Are you currently realizing or planning to conduct an upcoming project/research that deals with the topic(s) connected to Viennese contemporary art?

Do you want to experience ‘in situ’ research of the Viennese art scene and expand your professional network with its notable agents?

Vienna-based organization BLOCKFREI has created an individually tailored residency program for emerging international researchers, curators, theoreticians, critics, and/or art historians focusing on contemporary art.

Curators’ Agenda: Research Residency, Vienna 2022 is a residency program for up to 3 selected international contemporary art professionals whose current practice and/or research is dealing with a specific topic related to the city of Vienna.

Duration: February – November 2022
minimum 1 to maximal 3 month period
first time slot starting on February 1, 2022

Location: Vienna, Austria

Application deadline: December 10, 2021

The residency will take place between February and November 2022, offering 1 to 3-month time slots for each participant. During their stay in Vienna, the residents will engage in theoretical and empirical research relevant to their own projects. The final results of the residency will be realized as public cultural events (readings, lectures, talks, discussions, or similar) or curatorial products (texts or exhibition concepts) that encompass Vienna’s “new heritage”. These results will be presented to wider audiences (in situ or in digital format depending on the actual possibilities and health-related safety measures).

For whom is C’A: RR designed?

Research Residency is designed for emerging researchers, scholars, curators, and/or art writers whose current or planned project/s are focused on contemporary art and who would specifically benefit from conducting their research or fieldwork in the city of Vienna.

The program aims to answer participants’ specific professional aspirations and to provide them with a unique set of connections and directions that would best benefit their particular research projects. BLOCKFREI team will offer their support to residents during their stay with available resources (logistics, network, contacts, etc.).

C’A: RR offers

• Possibility for individual professional growth and international networking
• Possibilities for cultural exchange with representatives of the Viennese contemporary art community
• Working (shared) space in Vienna’s lovely and green 2. district
• Accommodation voucher of up to 500 € per month (maximum 1500 € per person altogether)
• Travel expenses voucher of up to 250 €
• Per diem (15 € per residency day)

C’A: RR application

The conditions for the application are that the work the potential resident would be conducting in Vienna is focused on issue/s within the realm of contemporary art and that the wider topic of their ongoing (or proposed) project is connected to the Viennese context. Please make these connections as clear as possible in the application materials you are submitting. Furthermore, in your application, please state a more precise time period when you would like to be in Vienna (no exact dates necessary).

Up to 3 applicants will be selected to take part in the Curators’ Agenda: Research Residency program.

Please, by December 10, 2021, send us the following documents to info@blockfrei.org:

• completed application form (available here)
• CV (one A4 page)
• letter of motivation (up to one A4 page) along with your
• project description or proposal (one A4 page)

Selected participants will be notified by December 20, 2021.

All inquiries regarding the program can be directed to info@blockfrei.org

Important information

• The working language of the program is English.
• There is no age limit for the applicants.
• There is no application nor program fee.
• If you require a traveling visa for Austria, make sure to learn what you need for that purpose in a timely manner. BLOCKFREI, in that case, can only issue a letter stating the duration of your stay and the level of financial support provided by the organization.
• The travel insurance and medical insurance, as well as the monthly public transport ticket, are not included but are part of the responsibility of the selected candidates.
• In order to have easier access to spaces of culture and art, the applicants should meet the current health safety measures as proposed by the City of Vienna. For more see https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/coronavirus-information and https://coronavirus.wien.gv.at/faq-english/#3GRule.