Call for Applications Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee 2016

Call for Applications
Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee 2016
Duration of the Academy: August 11 – 21, 2016
Guest Curator:
Thomas Hirschhorn
Theme:
Where do I stand? What do I want?
Deadline for Applications: January 31, 2016
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Table of Contents
General Information
3
Theme of the Academy
3
Guest Curator and Speakers
4
Concept and Programme
5
Opening and Nominators` Day
of the Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee
5
Organisation, Jury and Management
5
Application Procedure
5
Conditions of Participation
6
Travel and Accommodation Expenses
6
Application Form
7
Questionnaire
9
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General Information
The Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee (SAK) is a foundation funded by the
Cantonal Bank of Bern’s BEKBBCBE commitment to training.
The SAK is an annual event, providing an international platform for contemporary art,
and selecting twelve international artists, art critics and curators to attend a ten-day
workshop. Every year, a Board of Experts nominates a new Guest Curator, who develops
the theme. The SAK promotes artistic reflection amongst Fellows, Guest Curator,
Speakers and Nominators from the international art world. Members of the public are
invited to participate in all the events and artistic processes. The SAK is held at the
Zentrum Paul Klee and the Kunsthalle Bern.
All the Fellows who have participated in a former SAK become Alumni, and have the
right to nominate one suitable candidate per year.
Active Nominators Alumni, Former Guest Curators and a selection of former Speakers
who actively participate in the nomination procedure will be invited to Bern to the
Nominators’ Day. Travel and hotel expenses will be covered by an all in fee offered by
the Cantonal Bank of Bern BEKB│BCBE.
Theme of the Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee 2016
by Thomas Hirschhorn
Where do I stand? What do I want?
It’s about having a plan. The plan ‘Where do I stand? What do I want?’ is my plan. It
highlights my position. It is neither an historical nor a scientific document, and this plan
is not about facts and certainties. The plan ‘Where do I stand? What do I want?’ is first
and foremost a form, the plan gives form. I want to give form. Form interests me, to give
form, this is my work. In my work, in my art, with every single work and with every
exhibition I want to show that I take a position and that I have a plan. It’s about making
a statement as an artist, as to where I really stand, what I really want. It is about asserting
yourself as an artist, to take a stand. It is of importance to me to clarify my position, to
maintain and defend it. For that, I need help, I need tools, I need to know which are my
influences, I need encouragement, I need to be aware of the dangers, I need to know my
problems, and I need love. Love for art and love for philosophy.
The plan is the first step for the frame, for the construction, the sculpture. It is twodimensional. I have to convert it to three dimensions. All my works are plans or collages
which have been transformed into the third dimension, I make collages in space. I never
start from volume, but always build up a plan which is sketched in my head. The plan,
the form always starts in my mind. I’m interested in a plan which can’t be worked out in
a linear way, and by the fact that I need to interpret it. This interpretation has to be real,
true, my own interpretation. It has to originate from my own.
Art is about having an intention, a mission, a problem. And it’s about giving form to this
problem or mission under necessity, with headlessness and urgency. The plan is one of
such forms, a claim, a challenge to myself: I have a plan, an idea, a project, a position.
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I must and I will assert my position and defend my plan. It’s about asking an artist the
fundamental, the big question, the only important question, and to try to answer it
through my work. That question is: ‘Where do I stand? What do I want?’.
For me, it can only be about this: Do I have the power, the determination, the passion
and the competence to make a work of art – to assert a form that has bite and demands
as much of the beholder as it does of me: everything. That’s what’s on the plan ‘Where do
I stand? What do I want?’. Everything on it counts, everything on it is important and
everything on it is right!
Contained within the question ‘Where do I stand? What do I want?’ is the question to the
other: ‘What do you want? Where do you stand?’. That is the political point in this
question to myself: I ask myself, first, but also address the other. I want to know: What is
your form? What does your plan look like? It’s about laying the groundwork, setting
conditions as an artist, to give something first so I can ask the other what s/he’s giving, in
order to demand and claim it! That is the logic behind the plan ‘Where do I stand? What
do I want?’.
I know what it takes to develop an artistic logic: Love, passion, hope, courage, taking
risk, commitment to form, resilience, assertiveness, headlessness, and unconditional
insistence on the autonomy of art. And the readiness – as an artist – to be the first to pay
for one’s work, for art. I also know that an artist has to be a warrior.
Thomas Hirschhorn
Guest Curator and Speakers
The Guest Curator
The Sommerakademie 2016 will be led by Guest Curator Thomas Hirschhorn.
Thomas Hirschhorn was born in 1957 in Bern (Switzerland). He studied at the Schule für
Gestaltung, Zürich from 1978 to 1983 and moved to Paris in 1983, where he has been living
since. His work has been shown in numerous museums, galleries and exhibitions among which
the Venice Biennale (1999 and 2015), Documenta11 (2002), 27th Sao Paolo Biennale (2006),
the 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburg (2008), the Swiss Pavillion at the 54th Venice
Biennale (2011), La Triennale at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012), the 9th Shanghai Biennale
(2012), Gladstone Gallery New York (2012), Manifesta 10 in Saint-Petersburg (2014). In 2013
Thomas Hirschhorn presented the "Gramsci Monument" in the Bronx, New York.
For more information please see: www.sommerakademie.zpk.org
The Speakers
The Speakers 2016 have been chosen by the Guest Curator Thomas Hirschhorn as international
experts in the field of this year’s theme. They will be present during several days of the Academy
to focus on the theme from different perspectives.
The Speakers 2016 will be:
Yasmil Raymond
Tania Bruguera
Marcus Steinweg
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Concept and Programme
The Academy programme will be developed by the Guest Curator and will take place in the
Zentrum Paul Klee and at the Kunsthalle Bern. It consists of workshops, lectures, a sightseeing
tour of Bern, a guided tour through the Zentrum Paul Klee including the archive and an
excursion to the mountains. A detailed programme will be provided upon arrival. Certain parts
of the Academy programme will be exclusively for Fellows.
Additional events will be held in collaboration with local partner organisations and will be open
to the general public. The public programme will be announced by flyers, website, newsletters,
facebook and twitter.
During the workshops the Fellows are given the opportunity to present and discuss their
work in relation to the theme. Speakers will join in and present their approach to the
theme.
Opening and Nominators` Day of the Sommerakademie im Zentrum
Paul Klee
Nominators, Alumni, former Guest Curators and Speakers who actively nominate a
possible Fellow will be invited by the Cantonal Bank of Bern’s BEKBBCBE to the
Nominators’ Day which coincides with the start of the Academy. The public opening
event will take place on Friday August 12, 2016 at the Zentrum Paul Klee and the
Fellows will introduce the audience into their work.
Organisation, Jury and Management
Dr. Jacqueline Burckhardt, Director of the SAK, will be advised by the Board of Experts:
Giovanni Carmine, Director Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen
Andreas Fiedler, Artistic Director KINDL - Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Sabina Lang, Artist
Prof. Dr. Beate Söntgen, Professor of Art History at Leuphana-University Lüneburg
Peter Fischer, Director Zentrum Paul Klee
The Jury (Director Dr. Jacqueline Burckhardt, Guest Curator Thomas Hirschhorn and Members
of the Board of Experts) will take their decision in March, 2016.
Members of the Management Team are Barbara Mosca, Caroline Komor Müller and
Dominique Wyss.
Application Procedure
Eligibility
Artists, curators or art critics, who are graduates of an art academy or university, or who have
an equivalent qualification are eligible to participate. Applicants should have initial work
experience; the age limit is 35 (- born 1981).
1) Nominators, Alumni, Guest Curators and a selection of former Speakers of the SAK are
encouraged to invite one suitable candidate to apply.
2) Free applications are just as welcome.
For further information please see: www.sommerakademie.zpk.org.
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Application Materials and Rights
The application needs to be concise and in printed form. For details, please see
application form. Please do not send in originals. Incomplete, unsigned or late
applications (date of postmark applies) cannot be considered. Application materials
will not be returned.
The SAK is entitled to use all materials made available by applicants for press work and
advertising.
Selection Procedure
1. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2016.
2. The Jury selects twelve candidates whose applications relate to the theme.
3. The decision will be communicated to applicants and Nominators in March, 2016.
Reasons for rejection will not be communicated. Legal action is not possible.
Conditions of Participation
The selected Fellows agree to participate regularly and actively in the SAK events for its
entire duration. The language of the Academy is English. During the Academy
photographs and videos will be taken on announcement in order to document the SAK
2016.
Fellows’ Presentations
The selected 12 Fellows will present their work in 8-minutes-presentations as part of the
Opening Ceremony in the Auditorium of the Zentrum Paul Klee. The Auditorium offers
high standard and details regarding technical needs will be communicated at a later stage.
Technical details need to be approved by the Management.
The presentations are addressed to key people of the international art world and the
general public.
Travel and Accommodation Expenses
Fellows will make their own travel arrangements and guarantee to be present from the
first to the last day of the Academy. All travel arrangements must be communicated to
the Management by May, 2016. The SAK will cover direct travel expenses to and from
Bern with an all-in amount (consisting of a 2nd class rail ticket or a reasonably priced
flight and return ticket from the airport to Bern). The SAK will not cover expenses for
assistants, partners and children.
During the Academy accommodation, joint meals, local transport and excursions are
organised and fully paid for by the SAK.
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(A) Application to participate as a Fellow (artist, art critic or curator) in
the Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee,
August 11 – 21, 2016
First Name
_________________________________________________________________
Surname / Family Name
_________________________________________________________________
(As in passport)
Street / No.
_________________________________________________________________
Postcode / City
_________________________________________________________________
Country
_________________________________________________________________
Date of Birth
________________________ Place of Birth ____________________________
Gender
m□
Languages
f□
Nationality ______________________________
English □
Other ___________________________________
Telephone Number
________________________ Mobile __________________________________
Email Address(es)
_________________________________________________________________
Website
_________________________________________________________________
Areas of Work / Media
_________________________________________________________________
Nominated by: First Name / Surname _________________
Institution
__________________
This application must contain:
-
Application form
-
2-page questionnaire
-
CV with professional career and achievements to date
Supporting Material:
-
2-4 A4 pages with photographs documenting your work in printed version
or for critics/curators an equivalent in text examples or 1-2 catalogues
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-
One DVD if the candidate works with video or performance
-
One publication (optional)
-
A list of publications (optional)
In case I would become a Fellow I agree:
- that I would book my travel arrangements on my own (including VISA procedures) and
will be reimbursed.
- that I am responsible for my insurance, for medical treatment and personal belongings
and arrange both a personal effects and health insurance policy to cover the period of
my stay in Switzerland.
I am in agreement with the conditions of participation. I declare that the submitted
documentation is of my own work and that the information in my CV is correct.
Place / Date
_____________________________________ Signature ________________________________
Please submit your application by January 31, 2016 (postmark):
Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee, Monument im Fruchtland 3, PO Box, CH-3000
Bern 31, Switzerland
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(B) Questionnaire
First Name / Surname _______________________________________________________________
Please answer the 4 questions by Thomas Hirschhorn:
Why do I think what I think?
Why do I do what I do (art)?
Why do I use the tool or instrument I use?
Why do I give the form I give?
1. Why do I think what I think?
(1000 signs)
2. Why do I do what I do (art)?
(1000 signs)
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3. Why do I use the tool or instrument I use?
(1000 signs)
4. Why do I give the form I give?
(1000 signs)
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