Plantelor 58 Residency – Photo Focus

“Plantelor 58 Artist Residency” aims to introduce international artists and curators to the Romanian cultural environment. The selected curator and artist will be encouraged to take as much inspiration as possible from the local context and work within the artistic medium of photography. The theme of this year’s residency focus is the architectural and the socio-cultural context of the residency space of 58 Plantelor, situated in a historical building near the Bucharest Old Centre. Applicants are welcome to ask for more details from the organizers before submitting their application, by writing their enquiries at contact@arac.ro.

The residency is an initiative of gallerist Anca Poterasu – president of ARAC and the successful candidates will be working closely with curator Cristina Stoenescu and ARAC’s team, in order to explore the local art scene. The two successful candidates will reside and exhibit in Bucharest within two time-frames: artistic residency (June-July, 2018) and curatorial residency (July-August, 2018) for the duration of one month each – exact dates to be discussed on common agreement with the successful candidates. The curator and the artist will apply separately.

The curatorial residency aims to enable an international curator to document, research and get better acquainted with the local art scene, with a special interest on photography, linked to this year’s residency focus – connected with the history and the community space of the residence.

The artist is encouraged to experiment and produce new works based on the concepts and directions developed together with the local ARAC curator, Cristina Stoenescu. At the end of the residency period, the artist’s work will be displayed in an exhibition at Anca Poterasu Gallery. Open presentations about the residency exhibition and the artistic process will be held in Bucharest and at the Centre of Contemporary Photography, in Iași.

The aim of the project is to offer the possibility for the curator and the artist to engage in an active dialogue with Romanian art practitioners and local art audiences. The material and financial support for artistic production is limited, but available.

Please read bellow more details regarding eligibility, forms of support and application details.

ELIGIBILITY

The residency is opened to curators and artists of all ages, working with contemporary photography, from all around the world. The selection committee – a panel of contemporary art specialists – will review the applications and select the successful candidates in one session.

The two successful candidates are supposed to reside and work in Bucharest for four weeks each, in two separate periods. At the end of the artistic residency period, the artist is expected to organize an exhibition at Anca Poterasu Gallery with the newly produced works.

The artistic residency will take place between 15th June – 15th July, 2018.
The resulting exhibition will take place from July through September 2018.
The curatorial residency will take place between 20th July – 20th August, 2018.
(The final dates will be set with the successful candidates)

The applicants should be able to speak English fluently and should be flexible in interacting and engaging in an honest communication with the local community and ARAC team.

FORMS OF SUPPORT

The residency will take place in Bucharest, at the ARAC residency, situated on 58, Plantelor Street. The residency spaces are located in the premises of a 19^th century inn, near the Old Centre of Romania’s capital-city. The local spirit has been kept alive in this vibrant neighbourhood, where one can experience the many layers and parallel histories of Bucharest. The curator and the artist are encouraged to take as much inspiration as possible from the local context. The team members and staff of ARAC will closely assist and work together with the selected applicants all throughout the residency period.

For each of the successful candidates, based on a contract, the organizer will cover:

– Travel fees (meaning return airfare from the country of origin to Romania);
– Private accommodation and studio with free wi-fi. The studio shares the same courtyard with the exhibition space of Anca Poterasu Gallery. It comprises of a 25m² furnished room, with own bathroom and kitchen space. More images of the space will be made available soon on www.arac.ro;
– The curator and artist will each receive €1700 per residency duration, that should cover living costs;
– €1700 separate budget for art production is available for the production of new works and for the instalment of the residency exhibition.

The travel insurance and medical insurance are part of the responsibility of the selected candidates.

HOW TO APPLY

In order to successfully apply for the 58 Plantelor Residency in Bucharest, the applicants should provide the following documents in English:

Curator application:

– updated resume/ CV
– comprehensive curatorial portfolio (including list and images of recent exhibitions, A4, PDF format, not more than 10 Mb).
– curatorial proposal containing methods of approach and documentation in accordance to the residency theme explaining why you apply and a brief project plan

Artist application:

– updated resume/ CV
– comprehensive artist portfolio (A4, PDF format, not more than 10 Mb; video works or documentation in AVI, WMV or QuickTime format should be up to 500mb in total). For a more fluent sending procedure, we recommend that you use free transfer services like Dropbox or wetransfer.com .
– exhibition project-proposal for the residency project in accordance to the residency theme explaining why you apply and a brief project plan

All materials should be sent to: contact@arac.ro

The deadline for the application is: April, 28th 2018, hours 24.00 for both curatorial and artistic submissions. No entry submitted after this date will be considered.

The successful applicants will be announced the latest by May, 12th 2018.
For inquiries regarding the program, please contact us at the e-mail address: contact@arac.ro

ARAC is a non-profit organization founded in June 2012, in order to produce and promote Romanian contemporary art in Romania and abroad. The team of ARAC engages in stimulating and supporting contemporary artists by attracting funds in order to ensure financial resources – as part of ARAC’s mission statement. An important objective of ARAC is to facilitate international cultural exchanges with artistic environments from other countries participating in festivals, fairs, residencies or any event that relates to contemporary art.
www.arac.ro                                 

AFCN 58 Plantelor Residency is a cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration.The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
www.afcn.ro