Call for applications: Connect South Africa residency

The call is a new collaboration framework that marks the extension of Pro Helvetia and CERN’s joint efforts in supporting and promoting dialogue between artists and scientists. The goal of this research-led residency programme is to develop and realise new artworks in dialogue with scientists, engineers and staff of the laboratories and observatories involved. It seeks to support artistic residencies that germinate new projects, which in turn feed into and animate an ongoing programme of professional exchange between artists and scientists across this international network.

CERN curator and head of arts Mónica Bello and University of Cape Town lecturer at the Michaelis School of Fine Art George Mahashe will collaborate on the curation of the residencies. In both residencies, the selected artists are invited to research and explore new expressions in connection with fundamental research and physics of the cosmos. The programme will involve a residency period of three weeks at CERN in Geneva and a residency of five weeks in South Africa. Connect South Africa will grant a funded residency to two artists, one from Switzerland and another from any country in Southern, East or West Africa.

Conditions

The Connect South Africa call encourages the participation of artists who meet any of the following criteria:

• Artists from a discipline supported by Pro Helvetia (music, visual arts, literature, performing arts, design and interactive media) and meeting the general Pro Helvetia criteria: a convincing body of work and track record and a significant footprint in the arts scene of the respective contexts of Switzerland and any Southern, East and West Africa country.
• Artists interested in the cultural significance of scientific research and technology.
• Artists interested in extending their connection within the field of physics and sciences of the universe, to enter in a dialogue with scientists and engineers as well as CERN staff and scientists of the South African Astronomical Observatory and South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.
• Artists pushing traditional forms of dialogue with other fields of research, and who are keen to ask innovative questions across disciplines.
• Artists interested in the scientific community and the interaction with its social fabric and its history and narratives.
• Artists whose work and proposal aims to reflect on new models of social enquiry, the potential synergies between art and science, and to offer challenging methods of exchange and enquiry.
• Artists with a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and flexibly across different social-cultural and institutional worlds.

The grant

Connect South Africa awards one artist from Switzerland and another artist from any Southern, East or West Africa country with a funded residency at CERN in Geneva, and at the South African contexts.

The grant includes the following support and conditions for each artist:

• A production stipend of 6 000 Swiss francs ($6 500).
• Living expenses in Switzerland and South Africa.
• International travel costs and local travel, when required, and accommodation at CERN in Geneva, and across various locations in South Africa – principally Cape Town, Johannesburg and the Northern Cape.

Expectations of the artist

The selected artists for the Connect South Africa residency programme will be expected to:

• Engage in research based on the proposal submitted in the context of the call.
• Complete the period of the residency at CERN and in South Africa.
• Meet regularly with the scientific partner(s) to discuss the process of artistic research, exploration and discovery, and additionally work with other scientists.
• Give one talk and/or workshop during the residency.
• Communicate regularly with the curators and teams of Arts at CERN.
• Develop a concrete project resulting from the residency within the six months following the residency. Depending on the nature of the artists practice, this project proposal could be a fully realised artwork or the development of a preliminary stage or prototype of a project idea.
• Support the curators and project teams on the evaluation and report of the residency within the six months following the residency.

Who should apply?

Artists from the following African countries are eligible to apply: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, eSwatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Kenya, Comoros, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Zambia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Chad, Uganda, Central African Republic and Zimbabwe.

How to apply

Artists who wish to apply for the Connect South Africa residency should submit a proposal adhering to the criteria of the call.

The application should be written in English and should contain the following elements:

• Personal details: name, address and contact details.
• An artist dossier with the most relevant artworks or projects, including a brief statement and the artist’s biography.
• A detailed proposal describing the project that the artist intends to undertake during the residency at CERN, and in South Africa.
• A video statement (not longer than five minutes), defending the relevance of the intended project.

Artists from Southern, East and West Africa should apply here while Swiss artists should apply here.

The submission deadline is 26 May.

The selection will be based on the evaluation of the above material and will be reviewed by a jury of cultural experts and scientists. Only the selected artist(s) will be notified via email.

For more information about the programme in South Africa, email applications-johannesburg@prohelvetia.org. Swiss artists should contact info.arts@cern.ch.

View the original call here.