Local Call Vienna III – April to June 2025!
The Vienna Education Academy, as a partner of the art project Turning the Tide (TTT), invites artists living in Vienna to become part of the initiative and apply for a project partnership.
Would you like to be part of our transnational art project? Are the environment and sustainability important to you? Would you like to use your art to address the effects of the climate crisis through the theme of “cities and water” and raise awareness of sustainability among the general public with your project? Then you’ve come to the right place!
About the project:
Turning the Tide (TTT) is an ambitious international cultural project that sees itself as a transdisciplinary dialogue aimed at creatively drawing attention to the threatening effects of the climate crisis on cities located on the water.
As an artistic partner in the project, you will address the following questions: How do you perceive your environment? What does sustainability mean to you? How can a shift in thinking be initiated that leads to a fundamental change in climate policy and broad social awareness of climate issues? What role can art and artists play in this? What can each of us do to get involved in climate protection?
It is crucial for us that you engage with the Viennese through your artistic work and thus involve local residents in the project. The project aims to give citizens a voice and allow them to participate. In addition, art and creativity should raise public awareness of climate protection in cities located on waterways. The concept underlying the TTT project aims to network the work of socially and politically engaged artists in four cities (Stockholm, Vienna, Chalkida, Gdansk). Through exchanges between cultural creators and the population, the topics of climate change and climate justice are to be renegotiated, information is to be conveyed, and possible positive future perspectives are to be developed.
Within the TTT project, the artists are part of an international network of artists. Ideally, the respective projects should be discussed with each other and inspire each other. The TTT project comprises a total of five partner countries and organizations: Intercult (Sweden), Artit (Greece), Wiener Bildungsakademie (Austria), DEAR HUNTER (Netherlands), and the Urban Culture Institute (Poland) in collaboration with Fablevision (Scotland) and the River//Cities network.
RESIDENCY IN VIENNA FOR LOCAL ARTISTS
Implementation April to June 2025
We invite you, as an artist living in Vienna, to apply for the locally awarded “Artist-in-Residence” program. If you are interested in environmental protection and sustainability and ecological living are important to you, we look forward to receiving your application. It is also important to us that you are committed to socially engaged art and that you are committed to social justice, environmental protection, and climate-related issues, especially those related to water. We expect you to involve the residents of Seestadt Wien in your project and to create opportunities for participation. As an overall cultural project, TTT aims to draw attention to the climate crisis through artistic works and encourage people to reflect on the issue. Change can only happen if collective awareness of climate change shifts and new perspectives and ways of thinking can develop. Art can contribute to this by illustrating and making knowledge tangible through innovative, appealing, provocative, and informative works. By involving the people of Seestadt, the creative process can develop directly from working with the residents.
Three months are planned for the Artist-in-Residence. During this period, the artist will have time to research, seek and find inspiration on site, actively involve the residents in their own reflections, and create a work that can be digitized and archived. However, we do not want to restrict your creativity; you are free to choose any art form (photos, videos, performances, presentations, sculptures, sound installations, visuals, and much more). At the end of the three months, the result should be ready for us to present to the public together.
In a positive and fruitful exchange between you as an artist and us as cooperation partners, we will plan and implement the presentation of your work to an interested local and international audience. (In cases where the content warrants it, this event may also take place after June).
As a selected artist, we expect you to be available for online meetings, feedback, and follow-ups on your work progress before, during, and after your residency. It is important to organize at least one artist webinar with you in order to facilitate a digital dialogue between local and international participants, or to hold an online conversation with you as an artist and our curatorial team Karin Moser and Karl Kilian.
At the beginning of the Artist-in-Residence program, you as an artist will participate in a joint cultural research workshop led by Dear Hunter, one of our international cooperation partners, to promote and stimulate the mutual exchange of ideas on climate change.
REQUIREMENTS
TTT invites artists from all disciplines to apply to participate in this project.
It is crucial for us that you engage with the Viennese through your artistic work and thus involve local residents in the project. The project aims to give the citizens of Seestadt a voice and allow them to participate. In the course of the artistic process, the aim is to raise awareness of sustainability, climate protection in general, and the preservation of water quality in particular. How this is done is up to you as an artist. It can take the form of workshops, walks, seminars, or similar activities.
Four artists from Vienna and two artists from European partner countries have already implemented their works as part of the Turning the Tide project. These include Kamila Chomicz (Poland), Jenny Marketou (Greece), Anny Wass (Austria), Paul Kitzmüller (Austria), Daniel Böswirth (Austria), and Daniil Sukhov (Austria). Their works dealt with Seestadt and the Danube as urban spaces and highlighted topics such as water, ecosystems, transience, and sustainability.
It is recommended to take a closer look at these previous works and approaches. Not only do they offer valuable insights into the artistic perspectives that have already emerged within the project, but they can also provide inspiration for new approaches. Engaging with these works—whether through further development of content, contrasting ideas, or establishing a dialogue—can enrich your own project and at the same time deepen the artistic exchange within Turning the Tide.
We welcome applications from artists at any stage of their creative process. You should be prepared to contribute your ideas and creative processes to public workshops and present them as part of the Turning the Tide project.
It is important to us that, as a selected artist, you are willing to involve the local population in your creative process. Your work will be part of a jointly designed program, in which we will present your artwork to the public. In terms of content, you should address climate protection, ecology, sustainability, and the social consequences of climate change. We do not want to set any limits on your creativity, because climate change also requires creative approaches and proposed solutions. Ultimately, your artistic work should lead to a presentable result.
You should have a sufficient command of English to be able to communicate with international artists and our project partners.
The residency is scheduled for the period from April to June 2025. A final presentation of your art project can also take place after June 2025 by arrangement.
EXPENSES
As a selected artist for the local residency, you will receive a reimbursement of €2,600 for your participation in the project (including all possible fees or taxes – material costs can be discussed).
If you are interested in an art project in Vienna’s Seestadt, you can apply via this link until March 26, 2025:
LINK TO THE FORM!
Applicants will receive prompt notification of the jury’s decision.
A total of 8 artists are being sought for the entire 2-year project duration. This third call for applications for 2 artists is for the period from April 2025 to June 2025. The remaining artists will be selected in stages thereafter.
We look forward to receiving your detailed application!
The form is a Google form, so a Google account is required. We prefer applications submitted via the form. If you do not have a Google/Gmail account, in exceptional cases you can apply by emailing herger@wiener-bildungsakademie.at!
