Artist in Residence

Announcement

Artist in Residence 2023

On the occasion of the »12th Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie« the organisers of the festival and the association »Kultur einer Digitalstadt e.V.« are offering international artists the opportunity to apply for a three-month artist residency in the studio house on the Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt until 15 December 2022.


In the spirit of this year’s theme of the »12th Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie«, the residency is intended to enable the artist to “experiment” and to aim at the completion or development of an art project. The results of the residency will be exhibited in the Atelierhaus during the festival. The basic prerequisite for the application is, above all, a personal short statement by the artist, preferably submitted via social media, about why exactly he or she deserves the opportunity to experiment in the form of the artist residency.

The program

  • Period: 6 March – 9 May 2023
  • The opportunity to live and work for two months in an inspiring place (retreat and artist colony), costs covered by the programme (no participation fee for the artist).
  • Preparation and realisation of a solo exhibition to be opened as part of the 12th Darmstadt Days of Photography on 28 April 2023
  • Artist talk or artist talk / public presentation in front of an audience in Apri/Mail 2023.

Services of the program

  • Living in a fully equipped 3-room apartment house on the Rosenhöhe (in the ensemble “Neue Künstlerkolonie”, 1960s, last renovated in 2018) including kitchen.
  • 2 months á 1.500 € fee
  • A separate working space in the studio house located directly adjacent.
  • The studio house is available for the exhibition
  • Travel allowance to and from Rosenhöhe from/to home; support for necessary research trips in the Rhine-Main region during the funding period
  • Joint conception, assumption of production costs (up to 2,000 €) and support in setting up a solo exhibition as part of the 12th Darmstadt Days of Photography.
  • Promotion of the emerging project via the communication channels of the Darmstadt Days of Photography and the association “Culture of a Digital City”, ideally media accompaniment of the work creation process, project documentation
  • Curatorial and professional support of the scholarship holder by the project management as well as accompaniment to interesting meetings / exhibitions / events of the cultural scene in Darmstadt
  • Support with research
  • Bicycle, WLAN, a Din A4 B/W printer as well as information material on Darmstadt are provided

Own contributions and responsibilities of the scholarship holder:

  • The scholarship holder must pay for his/her own meals.
  • Insurances and, if applicable, visa costs must be independently organised and financially covered by the scholarship holder.
  • The resulting work becomes the property of the artist. In case of a sale in connection with the exhibition, the production costs as well as a share of 30% of the proceeds will be charged to the benefit of the festival.
  • Travel to and from the exhibition as well as necessary transport of materials must be organised independently; reimbursement of costs by the organiser is only possible after prior consultation.
  • Equipment, technology, media (computer, mobile phone, camera, etc.) relevant to the work must be brought by the scholarship holder and, if necessary, insured for the period.
  • The scholarship holder agrees to the provision and use, free of charge and for an unlimited period of time, of image and information material on his/her artistic work within the framework of the 12th Darmstadt Photography Days and the publications of the supporting association “Kultur einer Digitalstadt e.V.”.
  • The scholarship holder must show a high degree of willingness to cooperate with the festival and association team in the coordination process for the planned exhibition.

Background on the location of the residency programme

In Darmstadt, as in other places in Germany at the same time, an artists’ colony was founded at the end of the 19th century. Between 1899 and 1914, several famous Art Nouveau artists lived and worked on Darmstadt’s Mathildenhöhe. In the 1960s, the city of Darmstadt established a new artists’ colony. To this end, seven studio and residential buildings were erected from 1965 to 1967 in the Rosenhöhe Park, which is adjacent to Mathildenhöhe.

In 2018, the house at Ludwig-Engel-Weg 1 (LEW1) was thoroughly renovated with city funds and has since been used by the association “Culture of a Digital City”. The association has set itself the goal of trying out various event formats and promotional offers for artists, but also researchers and experts from various interdisciplinary fields of practice, which are implemented in the residential and studio house at Ludwig-Engel-Weg 1. Together, the residential and studio house form an architectural ensemble. The other six identical complexes on Rosenhöhe are inhabited – in part by artists. An open garden connects the houses of the settlement. Moreover, the nearby Mathildenhöhe, the historic artists’ colony and the neighbouring headquarters of the Design Department of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences make Ludwig-Engel-Weg 1 a place of special significance for the contemporary artists who temporarily reside there.

Topic of the festival 2023

Tilt/Shift – Experiment as Normality

Even in our society’s fields of activity we previously believed to be safe, the contemporary crises prevalent worldwide are revealing to us a long-inconceivable collapse. Although no claim can be laid on a normal state of the world, the feeling of security is dwindling for an ever-growing number of people: habitual viewpoints are breaking away, certainties are shifting. The promise that all will remain well, or that things will be all right again, is currently unravelling and is almost impossible to carry into tomorrow from today. Even people who, thus far, imagined themselves to be safe in their habitat are noticing that their everyday life is under ever-more frequent threat. Thought patterns are being queried and discussed – constructively by groups and individuals, but also in a polarising way by fact-twisters. Old discourses on euro-centrically and post-colonially influenced views of the world – in macro and in micro – are being sustained and propagated. Times of crisis not only signify uncertainty, but are also able – despite it all – to highlight opportunities. Partly out of necessity, potentials are examined at all levels for open spaces, new phenomena and further developments. Will the experiment of constantly having to refocus become the normal state now? How can photography capture the enormous changes? What images allow us to better understand an uncertain, diverse world subject to turbulent and complex transformation – and to keep an eye on the experiment’s open outcome?

Procedure

Who can apply or who is the residency programme aimed at?

Photographers, media artists, artists who primarily work with photographic or cinematic processes.

  • Individuals or artistic collectives of max. three persons
  • No age limit

Applications (in German or English) are open until 15 December 2022 (23:59 CET)

Application with digital work portfolio, a statement (Why exactly does the artist deserve the opportunity to experiment in the form of the artist residency ) and documents mentioned below via the web form:
https://kultur-digitalstadt.de/projekte/artist-in-residence-dtdf-ausschreibung/

If possible, submit public statement additionally via social media:
Image gallery on Instagram or Facebook. As text below (max. 280 – 300 characters) a statement on why exactly the artist deserves the opportunity to experiment in the form of the artist residency.

Below this, also link to @darmstaedter_tage_d_fotografie (Instagram)/ @DarmstaedterTageDerFotografie (Facebook) and use the hashtags #dtdf2023 and #residenceexperiment.

The following documents must be submitted in addition to the work portfolio and short statement (max. 1,000 characters):

  • Short curriculum vitae incl. previous exhibition activities and participation in funding programmes / scholarships, if applicable.
  • Concrete work project to be realised during the residency period and related to the festival theme (one page).

A jury consisting of the following members will select the suitable candidate from the submissions by the end of December January 2022:

  • Barbara Struif (Board of the association “Culture of a Digital City”)
  • Alexandra Lechner (photographer / founding member of the ” Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie” / RAY curator, BFF board)
  • Gregor Schuster (Photographer / Founding member of the ” Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie”)
  • NN
Contact:

»Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie«

Kasinostr. 3
64293 Darmstadt

Tel. + 49 6151 – 27 16 08

info@dtdf.de

www.dtdf.de