OPEN CALL – AIR Blekinge 2023

Artist in Residence Blekinge, Sweden
Open Call to artists in the Baltic Sea Region and Scandinavia
Dates: September 18th – October 13th 2023

AIR Blekinge offers artists place and resources for artistic development. Our aim is to establish long-term collaborations between artists and different actors in the region with its starting point during the residency.

Our focus area is the Baltic Region where we have a longstanding network and collaboration area. The residence is based in Ronneby, Sweden. Two artists from the Baltic Sea region will be selected to live and work at AIR Blekinge during a month, with the possibility of a later return for collaborations or exhibitions. One artist from Blekinge will also be selected to participate in the residency and share studio.

Through travels you will explore the county with its towns, cities, nature and archipelago and meet with representatives from different organizations and institutions, to provide new contexts, starting points or conceptual directions. There are studios, exhibition localities and workshop facilities in different medias available. We want to be a catalyst for new art productions in the Baltic Sea region.

Disciplines: Visual Arts

Location: The residence is based in Ronneby in the County of Blekinge in the South East archipelago of Sweden. Collaboration partners Konst i Blekinge and Kulturcentrum Ronneby konsthall.

Dates: September 18th – October 13th 2023

Eligibility two artists: Visual artists based in, temporary based in, or have connections to, the Baltic Sea Region and Scandinavian countries. Eligble countries in the extended Baltic Sea geography: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Artists can apply separately or together as a duo. Support: a stipend, travel, studio and accommodation and if agreed upon also production funds to experiment and try out works already on location in Blekinge.

Eligibility one artist: Visual artist in Blekinge based in, or with close connections to, Blekinge.

Support: a stipend/fee and shared studio.

Future collaborations: Konst i Blekinge has a grounded network in South East Sweden, as well as nationally and with collaborators in art institutions around the Baltic Sea. Possible exhibitions in the future.

WHAT DOES THE RESIDENCY OFFER?
• Studio facilities at Massmanska kvarnen in Ronneby
• A stipend/grant of 3 000 Euro
• Reimbursement of travel expenses to and from the residence
• Accommodation
• Facilities for production and workshops in graphic art, risoprint, textile, enamel, metal
• Possibility to use temporary exhibition spaces during the residency.
• Meetings with relevant collaborators for the future
• Reflect on your artistic practise with curators and art institutions
• Meetings can be set up with the Blekinge Institute of Technology specializing in Digital media and Spatial planning, with culture departments in the municipalities, museums, archives or other collaborators of your interest.
• If you are an artist based in, or with close connections to, Blekinge you will receive the stipend of
30 000 SEK taxfree, but not accommodation.
• The artists get a 30-days travel card at Blekingetrafiken if needed
• Konst i Blekinge will write an agreement/contract with the artists

WE EXPECT YOU AS AN ARTIST TO
• Be active part of meetings/visits arranged with actors around the region.
• Present your work for artists and cultural workers in the region in an informal setting.
• Arrange a workshop or program involving the local audience during your stay if it is part of your artistic proposal.
• Propose your first ideas for future projects in Blekinge.
• Get interviewed in in our Art Podcast, or publish a digital online art work at www.konstiblekinge.se
• If you are an artist based in, or with close connections to, Blekinge, we expect you to be present during meetings, share studio and spend time with the artists travelling to the area.
• The artists who receive the residency AIR Blekinge should book and pay for their own travel as soon as they get the decision

THEMATIC CONCEPTS FOR THE RESIDENCE
We will especially look upon artists who work in the fields below, but we are open to surprise and other proposals from artists.

The specific areas of interest are:
• Art in public spaces; artistic perspectives on the development of places and locations.
• Activating places through participatory and socially inclusive projects on location.
• Art in digital and physical space; hybrid spaces, interdisciplinary approaches.
• Cultural heritage in connection to the fields above.

WHAT TO SUBMIT IN YOUR APPLICATION?
• A short motivation text for your residency period
• CV
• Website
• Photos of relevant reference objects
• Tell us if you are interested in using any of the artistic workshops
• Contact information (full name, address, e-mail, mobile, bank name, account, iban and Swift/bic if applicable)
• If you are an artist in Blekinge or with close connections to Blekinge, we need you to describe what your connection to the region is.
• Send all information in ONE PDF-file to torun.ekstrand@regionblekinge.se

APPLICATION DEADLINE
Deadline for your application is August 13th 2023 24:00 CET
A jury will review the artists applications. Decisions are made upon motivation, artistic idea and the earlier works of the artist.
Konst i Blekinge will contact the chosen artists at the latest August 18th.
The decision will be published on our website www.konstiblekinge.se
The jury consists of representatives from Konst i Blekinge, Kulturcentrum Ronneby.

ORGANIZERS AND FUNDING BODIES
Konst i Blekinge, Region Blekinge, Kulturcentrum Ronneby konsthall, Ronneby kommun

CONTACT
Torun Ekstrand, art developer at Konst i Blekinge/Region Blekinge torun.ekstrand@regionblekinge.se

Photo: Charlotte Nilsson
Photo: Simone Alexandra Ærsøe