Special Call deadline continued until February 29th, 2020
Good news for 2020!
By international request the Special Call of Visual Catalyst exhibition deadline has been continued till the end of February 29 th, 2020.
We want to explore possibilities for making artworks which engage the challenges of consumer waste, environmental damage, the importance of climate adaptation and the need for humanity to change course. In the face of scientific data, disturbing news stories and confused online media, the everyday person has difficulty grasping and responding to the realities which confront us. We hope to address the question of how artists can make works which open doors to new thinking and viewpoints, by creating artworks.
Art can be used to start a conversation, to expose reality and suggest new possibilities. It can inspire and activate people, and give hope for the future.
Special Call – Visual Catalysts 1.11. – 31.12. 2019
Available in: Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish
Visual Catalysts is an exhibition that takes place at gallery Laikku in Tampere September 25th -October 18th, 2020. The Visual Catalysts exhibition is the third and final exhibition at Backlight 2020 Triennale. The festival opens with Space Works exhibition at the Tampere Art Museum from June 4th to August 31st, 2020 followed by Related Realities exhibition at Gallery Himmelblau in September 4th -October 25th, 2020. Visual Catalysts exhibition is curated by adjunct professor and artist Juha Suonpää in cooperation with CICAT2025- project.
Theme: New Visual Language Catalysts
We are living in a slow-motion climate crisis. Old ways of seeing got us here. Our way as consumers needs to be seen from fresh perspectives in order to move towards sustainability. Visual representations are a powerful global language and through a process of international co-creation, artists can be future change makers, creating new visual catalysts that can speak across cultures.
In the global sphere, respecting local perspectives is the nucleus of change for a sustainable future; each individual’s choices have an effect, and personality and locality matters. What we are looking for is projects that encourage self-motivation of agency in citizens, prompt reflection on sustainability issues, and support change and transition towards sustainable change and visions of a circular economy where waste and pollution are designed out and products and materials kept in use.
It is important to show what is happening in the globe. We encourage you to send applications which make us see our time from new perspectives in order to accelerate sustainable ideas. Climate change, extinction of species, micro plastics, useless items, overconsumption in general and numerous other issues may lead us to depression, so we do need also hope and new tools to overcome from these. The technique is free for you to choose: from digitally manipulated images to more traditional photos and not forgetting videos, animations and other moving image installations. We welcome both artists and scientists but also every one’s personal projects points of views to join us. We hope that your work may lead to new ways of seeing current global and local problems—as well as our own sense of being in the world.
Some of the selected works will also be considered for a book Visual Catalysts -anthology (2020) which will be published as a part of Backlight Triennale and Academic Project CICAT2025 – a joint project of Finnish universities, which aims to facilitate the transition from linear to sustainable circular economy ( https://cicat2025.turkuamk.fi/en/what-is-cicat2025/ ).
How to submit?
Projects may be submitted only through the on-line application. The images must be sent together with the completed application form no later than the deadline, December 31, 2019.
The application form and images must be completely filled and sent by the deadline.
Artists will need to write as part of the application an explanation for how their work fits the theme New Visual Catalysts. The “Project description” field and its “summary” are intended for this purpose.
- To submit images, please submit according to the following specifications:
- max. 10 images/application
- max. 5MB/each application
- accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF
- image size min. of 800px on the longest side, max. of 2000px
- To submit videos, please note that the video cannot be sent through the on-line application, please include a link to your video instead.
- To submit an installation, please take photos or send us a detailed sketch of the work from different angles and state the dimensions (in cm) of the installation.
Submitting is free and each applicant can submit up to 3 (three) projects. For each project, please complete a separate application. If you already submitted your works to the Related Realities -call, you can submit your works for Special Call Visual Catalysts, if you think they fit very well into that also.
Works that will be shipped to the festival must be ready for shipment by June 2020 at the latest. Most works will be printed on location, and those must be provided to the organizer also by June deadline. The organizer reserves right to choose most sustainable way; either the shipping of the works or printing them in Tampere depending on the size of the works and their distance from Finland. For videos and installations CICAT2025 takes care of equipment such as projectors and screens.