Open Call for Visual Artists - Cork Midsummer Festival 2022

For Cork Midsummer Festival 2022, and responding to the context of Covid-19, quarantine and successive lockdowns, CONNECTION reflects on this unprecedented and paradoxical experience of shared isolation and confinement to think more broadly about the concepts of community, care and connection and the encounter with the artwork. We invite artists from or based in Cork to take these ideas as a starting point for response and encourage unexpected interpretations.

These could include: Projects that conceive of CONNECTION as a formal device. Conceptual responses to the title or the ideas it generates (whether these be – for example – largescale social issues; intimate, personal interpretations of the idea of connection; or ideas that connect to popculture, politics, digital landscapes etc). Performance, visual practice (including paintings, drawing, lensbased work, sculpture, installation), sound art, film and video, durational works, site-specific works, workshops and/or social praxis. Pluck Projects are actively seeking venues in the city in which to exhibit/locate the work of successful applicants during the Festival.

Pluck Projects are Visual Arts Curators in Residence at Cork Midsummer Festival. One of Ireland’s largest multidisciplinary arts festivals, CMF uses Cork as its backdrop and inspiration with events happening in venues, spaces and unexpected places across the city. It provides a unique platform for national artists at all stages of their careers, presenting bold and innovative work that engages audiences of all ages. While rooted locally, including an annual programme of socially engaged and participatory events, the outlook is global with inspiring international artists and the exploration of burning topics both essential to Midsummer. The programme is developed in collaboration with many of the city’s arts organisations and institutions.

Formed in 2014 by Sarah Kelleher and Rachel Warriner, Pluck Projects work closely with artists to realise ambitious exhibitions of innovative and avant-garde work. To date, Pluck have produced exhibitions including Alice Maher’s Vox Materia at the Source Arts Centre in Thurles and the Crawford Gallery of Art in 2018, Gaol Break by Angela Fulcher in Cork’s City Hall in 2017, New Work from Glasgow at the Windle Building, UCC as part of the Cork International Film Festival’s Visual Arts Programme in 2015, and curated a strand of The Land of Zero at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork 2015.

For each project, Pluck seeks to promote the work of outstanding artists through creative curation and critical engagement. Utilising the specific context of Cork Midsummer Festival, we are particularly interested in proposals that demonstrate a capacity to engage with broad and diverse audiences, and that offer unique perspectives relevant to Cork. Successful applicants will receive an artist’s fee of €500 and a budget of up to €400 for production costs. There is no application fee.

Projects will be assessed according to the merit of proposals and their relationship to the theme.

We encourage applications from artists at all stages of their careers.

TO APPLY
Email your proposal as a single PDF file (max 10mb) to pluckprojects@corkmidsummer.com with CONNECTION Exhibition Proposal in the subject line of the email.

Please make sure your proposal includes the following:
CV: Max 2 pages. Containing name, address, email and website (if available)
Artist Statement: Max 200 words.
Proposal Summary: Please provide a summary (max 500 words) of the project you are proposing, how it relates to the theme of CONNECTION, and a description of the final work.
Supporting Material: Max 10 items which could include.
• Examples of work including details of material, dimensions, year of production.
• Links to video and audio (please do not include audio or video files in submission).
• Letters of agreement, for example from a group you plan to work with or a particular venue for site-specific work.

There is no need to include letters of support with this application unless they are directly related to the proposed project.

Cork Midsummer Festival and Pluck Projects are committed to equality and to facilitating access for all artists regardless of circumstances. If you have any questions about the application, or details of funding and support, please contact Sarah Kelleher and Rachel Warriner at pluckprojects@corkmidsummer.com

Deadline is midnight, 20 December, 2021.