Call
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
UrbanFestival: How we regret
May 2008
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: September 1, 2007 - THE APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED!
DECISION DEADLINE: All applicants whose proposals have been selected for further review will be contacted by October 15, 2007
UrbanFestival is an international multimedia festival of contemporary art in urban public spaces and its core objective is to have art permeate city life, intensify the interaction between the city, along with all of its infrastructure, and its residents.
Ever since it started in 2001., UrbanFestival has been concerned with the public and public space in particular, not only in terms of its thematic focus and program selection but also in terms of its unique organizational forms and experimentation. By deliberately stepping outside the ivory towers of art galleries and theaters, we have been attempting to widen the scope of our activity and bring to life the public space as a place of coexistence and juxtaposition of divergent points of view, even potential antagonism.
In the age of representational culture and a growing number of festivals, UrbanFestival has been designed more as a platform, a place for experiment, a structure that should be able to respond to local needs and intervene in the immediate context. We have decided to replace the conception of the city as a place whose existence is independent of its built-in structures and practices, a place of regulation of the everyday, an expression of the state power or of the ruthlessness of capital, with a political understanding of the city - the city, as a place that is constantly being reinvented by the practices of its residents.
The theme of UrbanFestival in 2008 will be: How we regret.
We are looking for open, interactive, and participatory projects that are socially committed. All selected artists are obligated to come to Zagreb for a research visit.
Organized by [BLOK] - Local base for culture refreshment is a non-profit NGO that produces and organizes innovative artistic events, works on widening and changing public space through inspiring citizens participation, hybrid artistic-research projects reflecting on social phenomena and urban structure. [BLOK] works to create and maintain the continuity of artistic effect in public space.