Beyond Boundaries is a 21-day intensive residency program supported by Municipality of Milan –  Fabbrica del Vapore, Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, Clube Portugues de Artes e Ideias, Fluks – Centre for Young Art, UKNA – UK New Artists, Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus and developed in collaboration with BJCEM – Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean.

Fabbrica del Vapore is an important Milanese hub of creativity and innovation. The residency will be organized in this direction, giving the venue a strong connotation of a welcome place, an incubator of new ideas where an exchange among the artists of the residency, the curator and the place will permit to carry on research, new artistic practices, and peer to peer learning.

Taking the cue from the research of A Natural Oasis? –  the BJCEM two-year nomadic free school dedicated to the development of new curatorial research paths in the field of contemporary, visual, and performing arts – Beyond Boundaries aims to foster the artistic practices of those territories, which are commonly considered remote, marginal, small, insular or liminal.

THE OBJECTIVES

• Foster a critical and shared analysis of the potentialities and aspects of the changes occurring in these territories through the creative languages of visual, multimedia, and performative arts;
• Promote and enhance the work of young international artists, who will obtain an important showcase for their practices;
• Foster new paths to discover peculiarities of the territories and help change the point of view of the observers through the innovative gaze of the artists;
• Offer the artists the chance to embrace other peers and the curator experience;
Artists are invited to conceive a process-based project, collaborate with local communities and professionals to present their practices, or further develop their existing research.

The working group of Beyond Boundaries will be composed of:

• Nicolas Vamvouklis, curator of the residency;
• Up to 6 selected artists coming from Montenegro, the UK, Portugal, Norway, the Municipality of Milan, and Cyprus selected through this international Open Call.

GENERAL CURATORIAL CONCEPT

In the crucible of our epoch, where the resonance of global challenges reverberates with heightened intensity, we invite young artists to navigate the intricate terrain beyond borders. This residency program revolves around the multifaceted exploration of boundaries – not confined merely to geographical demarcations but extending into the realms of the symbolic and metaphorical.

Consider the landscape as a tableau, not only the verdant, liquid, and rocky vistas of the earth but also the ethereal settings of the digital realm and the uncharted territories of the imagination. Within these diverse domains, we implore art practitioners to delve into the nuanced layers of political, cultural, and emotional borders that define and defy today’s communities.

This call is situated within the expansive context of the Mediterranean, transcending Eurocentric dialogues to illuminate critical issues emanating from the regional and marginal frontiers. Crucial to this research is the interrogation of prevailing sociopolitical narratives, unravelling the threads of fluid geography and identity dynamics.

In this period, besieged by feelings of insecurity, uncertainty, and perpetual threats arising from the ongoing conflicts, migrations, climate crises, and the profound aftershocks of the pandemic, we ask artists to become cartographers of shared experiences. Through the lens of their practice, we seek examinations of notions such as care, solidarity, and reciprocity. How do these elemental concepts manifest in the maelstrom of today’s turbulent reality? How do we envision futures that go beyond conventional narratives?

This residency program aims to cultivate a forum for reflection and discourse, utilizing art as a catalyst to confront the complexities of contemporary co-living. It fosters a collective journey to liminal spaces, where borders dissolve, and art acts as the compass for a mutual understanding of (non) humanity.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The call is open to artists who work in visual arts, applied arts, new media, photography, and performance. To be eligible, candidates must be under 35 (born after 1987) and come from or be based in the following territories:

• Portugal (one available position)
• Norway (one available position)
• UK (one available position)
• Montenegro (one available position)
• Municipality of Milan (one available position)
• Cyprus (one available position)

Eligible candidates shall send the following material:

1. Portfolio: an updated portfolio documenting their artistic practice and past and current projects (compressed Pdf, Quick Time or MP3 formats of max. 6MB).
2. Application form duly filled in, downloadable HERE

The application (portfolio and application form) must be sent to application@bjcem.org not later than December 12, 2023, 11.30 pm (GMT+1). Any application not complying with the requirements will be automatically rejected.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

• Participation to this call is free of charge.
• Each selected artist will receive a participation fee of 300 Euro; a production fee of 350 Euro; and a total per diem of 300 Euro, covered by the partner of reference. The non-resident selected artists will be provided a round ticket from and to the city indicated in the application form, covered by the partner of reference, and the Municipality of Milan will guarantee them accommodation in the facilities of Fabbrica Del Vapore.
• The selected artists will be contacted by email. The selection results will be announced on the BJCEM website (bjcem.org) by December 19, 2023.
• Each selected artist commits to be available to participate in the residency from January 10 to 31, 2024.
• In dialogue with the curator, artists are expected to present the outcome of their residencies on the occasion of a public open studio at Fabbrica del Vapore on January 30, 2024.
  • These outcomes may also be presented in the framework of other upcoming BJCEM projects. 

   PRIVACY AND AUTHORIZATION TO USE INFORMATION

  • By filling out the participation form, each artist authorizes the use of their image/voice and the reproduction of their research outcome for promotional purposes and dissemination activities.

  NOTES

  This call and the participation in this project do not preclude the possibility to apply for future BJCEM national and/or international calls with different personal projects. All the artists who have already participated in the previous editions of the Biennale can apply to this call. Priority will be given to artists who have never attended previous BJCEM activities.