Open Call for Emerging Curators to Participate in Kaunas Biennial 2019

Photo credits: Karolis Pilypas Liutkevicius / NANOOK

12th Kaunas Biennial
June – September 2019
http://www.bienale.lt

Our lives are journeys: from naive and curious childhood, to a (possibly) wise and mature old age, from the house of our parents to the cities and countries unknown, from the safe world to the unsafe one. We observe spiritual and physical journeys around ourselves. There are journeys we choose and journeys we are forced to take. There are journeys to discover yourself and the others; there are those who run from violence to some shelter.

Our place of departure will always determine the way we perceive and accept our point of destination and even how we are going to be accepted in some in-between point or the final stop. Therefore, not only the journey itself but the points of departure and destination become critical factors in our journeys, full of customs, landmarks, frontiers, knowledge, love, revelations, and escapes from yourself and various situations.

In the face of the Second Migration Period, we cannot cease to think about this phenomenon from the perspective of humanities, and in the light of changing values and attitudes. We cannot think about ourselves without thinking about the others and vice versa.

The 12th Kaunas Biennial (June-September, 2019) will be dedicated to the analysis of the journey as a phenomenon of spiritual growth of human beings and the humankind, maturity, dedication, achievements and progress, but also the loss, downfalls and cruelty.

More information about the concept here

Structure

The structure of the 12th Kaunas Biennial will be based on the co-curatorship approach, where the themes will be developed by a group of 4-6 emerging curators managed by consulting curator Lewis Biggs.

We are hereby inviting emerging curators* ready to work together with their future colleagues along the thematic lines of JOURNEY / SENSE OF BEING IN-BETWEEN suggested by Kaunas Biennial. Interested curators should present their concept for a sub-theme together with a collection of suggested works of art. The collection might consist of existing works of art and / or primary ideas (sketches) of new (commissioned) works.

By June 10, 2018, curators should submit:

• Creative bio and creative credo;
• Suggested title for Biennial’s exhibition (sub-theme) and its concept (1 page);
• Submission of 4-6 artists and their works that would explain the concept (the maximum of 10 artist / work submissions; please note that there will be up to 6 artists selected during the process of joint curatorship). Works suggested might be designed for exhibition spaces as well as unconventional and public city spaces;
• Motivation letter explaining your approach to the model of co-curatorship and your preparation to work in a team of colleagues for almost a year and a half.

Please send your proposals to info@kaunas.biennial.lt

More information: Kotryna Žemaitytė, kotryna@biennial.lt, +37060614370

*An emerging curator is a curator from the young generation, whose curatorship practice to this day has been based on local projects, small exhibitions and who has been working in non-institutional situations and lacks international visibility but not ambition. This category can also include a curator with international experience, but of young age (35 or younger). Collaboration of emerging curators is one of the values of Kaunas Biennial aiming at giving the voice and enabling as many emerging professionals as possible to operate in the international space of Europe and the world.