Blitz, supported by the Valletta 2018 Foundation, is pleased to announce the first open call for applications to send one artist abroad as part of the Blitz Residency Programme. The programme has to date been an international call inviting artists to Malta, to live and work in the Blitz building for one month. On this occasion, artists living and working in Malta are invited to apply to undertake a one-month residency in Greece, through an exciting new partnership between Blitz and Snehta, an artist-run organisation based in Athens.

The Blitz Residency Programme is a core strand of its artistic and public programme, created to facilitate a long-term, international artistic cultural exchange, while fortifying the role as cultural incubator and advocate organisation for contemporary art practice in Malta. Visit the Blitz Residency site for more information about the programme, and past, present and future residents.

In the fall of 2017, Snehta opens its doors to eight international contemporary art practitioners to live and work in Athens – the Blitz-Snehta residency will send one artist as part of this intake which will be taking place in October 2017.

Each artist has access to an Athens-based curator, to work with throughout their stay in support of their research and the realisation of an exhibition. The curator will be in discussion with the artists prior to and during their visit to Athens about their work and intentions, thus aiming to knit a tight collaboration between the artists, themselves and the local scene. The curator’s role will be to guide, discuss and work with all artists towards an idea or concept. The residency aims towards an organic growth of ideas between the curator and the artists that will result in the final presentation that will be the mutual product of all everyone involved. The Snehta team will co-coordinate and monitor this collaboration throughout.

 

Guidelines and eligibility

We are looking for contemporary practitioners who will demonstrate a genuine interest in the social context of Athens and who can engage with it critically by challenging social norms and taboos. We are looking for creative practitioners who will be open to collaborate, work with other artists and curators. Snehta candidates should demonstrate an interest towards the local community of Kypseli or widely towards other communities based in the city. We are interested in artists who are driven by a research-based and explorative approach, and who will engage playfully and creatively with the City. We are looking for people who will show a genuine interest in deriving new conclusions about their awareness of the City. We will take artists on board who believe in Art as a vehicle for increasing awareness and participation in the community.

The project is research-based and work made from this research by each artist can be shown in an exhibition during their residency period. The Snehta Athens based curator will collaborate closely with the artists and will co-curate end show with them. Snehta has recently started collaborating with Athens based Elika Gallery to make residents work commercially available. We offer guidance and one-to-one support for the facilitation of each project, including the acquisition of various resources requested whether technical or otherwise. Artists must engage in a dialogue with the Snehta team to request assistance. We can supply the artist with a tailored toolkit, which can include sites of possible interests, maps and useful contacts. We encourage our artists to interact with other Athens-based organisations and creative individuals. We offer artists support to communicate and pass their message across to these organisations and individuals. We offer translation of texts from English to Greek and can work as mediators for the presentation and creation of proposals for additional projects. We encourage, and can support resident artists to have an open-studio and talks event at the halfway stage of their residency. The progress and work of each artist will be promoted in our network: Snehta Residency website, Facebook, Twitter and through our e-newsletter. We would like to reinforce and foster collaborations which are beyond the boundaries of the Residency, therefore for any returned visits we will help the artist as much as we can, giving them the reassurance of our network and support.

The residency is open to all artists based in Malta. Non-Maltese applicants should have been living and practising in Malta for a minimum of two years and be able to demonstrate engagement with the local cultural scene, for example, through exhibition, publication, education, studio practice, or practice as an arts professional. Applicants must be Maltese citizens or be in possession of a Malta residence permit or of a Maltese citizenship certificate or of a Maltese passport.

Only electronic applications are accepted. Please use Adobe Acrobat to type into the PDF form fields, or else print, complete by hand and then scan. All submissions and required supporting material should be sent to [email protected] as either a direct email attachment, or shared with [email protected] via Dropbox or Google Drive. Attachments must not exceed 10MB. Decisions are made by a selection panel which is composed of the Blitz Residency Programme selection jury (for more info visit http:// blitzresidency.com/about/selection-panel/) the Snehta Director, and an external Athens-based curator who will work closely with the artist throughout his/her stay. Applications will be assessed within approximately four weeks of the deadline. Please note that only selected applicants are informed. Decisions are final and cannot be negotiated. To apply for the Blitz–Snehta residency please fill in the application form and send it together with your CV (max 1 page), a scanned copy of your ID card / passport / citizen card, and a portfolio of no more than 10 works. Selection is not based solely on applicants’ academic or professional background but our selection panel will give particular attention to strength of project proposal. Shortlisted applicants will be selected for interviews with the selection panel. All applicants are expected to be fluent in English.

Visual material/Portfolio

Please submit work that has been completed in the past 2 years. Material in excess of the limits below will not be viewed by the committee.

• 10 images in jpeg format, maximum size 1MB per image
• 2 minutes (maximum length) digital video, hosted via Youtube or Vimeo.

 

Duration, availability & costs

The residency is for four weeks in October 2017. The selected resident is provided with lodgings – a bedroom in a shared apartment, and a work studio. Airfares are reimbursed to the value of €200. Daily subsistence and material costs are the responsibility of the artist. No grants are currently available, however the selected candidate may be issued a letter of acceptance for individual grant seeking and funding applications.

 

Deadline for applications has been extended to the 15th of July 2017. The application form and further information can be found on this link.