Photo by Gianandrea Villa via Unsplash

Call for application – Epidemic Diary

Description

We are living in an exceptional period which questions our humanity. We think first of those who suffer from the situation, in their health, through the loss of their income, of those who are separated from their families, those who are confined in difficult conditions.

It is also a period of reflection that requires looking at our society, at what is important to us. On the way we face an unprecedented threat that affects not only us but all of humanity in a world where the other is always closer, where the other is both an ally and a threat.

In this period, we need artists and intellectuals to give us a sensitive vision of reality and help us to think differently to go beyond our daily impressions and give us height.

It is all the more important in our current daily life, where we all fight against an upheaval of our habits, immobility, confinement, a collective life or on the contrary an isolated life, sometimes the need to maintain a professional activity in an external environment which seems hostile to us.

How do artists do? How are they handling the situation? How do they analyze it and try to overcome it?

The project offers artists to keep an « Epidemic Diary » that will build an intimate and at the same time universal” map of Palestine. The « Epidemic Diary » will take stock, once a week, of their life and their vision of things for the next 6 weeks.

We will favor the reflections on the universal themes which find a specific application in Palestine: the relation to globalization (globalized economy, diaspora, borders), the relations of man to nature (man facing the virus, man as a factor of upheaval in nature), the community and social solidarity, the new forms of relationship to the family nucleus, the relationship to work, etc.

We will select confirmed artists or collectives who have a particular collective approach in different disciplines, according to the proposals that will be made. Will be accepted: performing arts, visual arts (including comics), music, literature, cinema.

The form sought is a Diary built week after week: it can be small works completed each week or on the contrary the unveiling of the process of creation of a work which will not be finalized until the end of the period.

The Diary” will have to take a pictorial, audio or video form (between 5 and 10 minutes) to be published on social medias.

In autumn, the works produced will be gathered in an curated exhibition in the fall at the various branches of the French Institute in Jerusalem and partners of the project, accompanied by debates between French and Palestinian intellectuals and artists to put into perspective the events and the consequences of the crisis.

Criteria of selection

In order to be eligible, your application must contain :

  • A description of the form of the Diary the artist chooses
  • A short statement of the ideas you want to express, related to the situation and to the following thematic : the relation to globalization (globalized economy, diaspora, borders), the relations of man to nature (man facing the virus, man as a factor of upheaval in nature), the community and social solidarity, the new forms of relationship to the family nucleus, the relationship to work
  • An sample of your previous works : text, picture, video or audio
  • A description of the process of creating the Diary : balance between publishing every week and a final work

The applicant will be selected based on :

  • The originality of the statement
  • The quality of the Diary process and the balance between publishing every week and a final work
  • The quality of the previous works
How to apply

Once filled, send the application form to the following email address : diaryproject@consulfrance-jerusalem.org

  • Each Diary proposal must be written in 2 pages (in English to speed up the processing of applications).
  • The subject of the e-mail should contain : Application call « Epidemic diary » + your name
  • The application can be of a confirmed artists or collectives who have a particular collective approach
Selection
  • Open call : 22/04/2020
  • Deadline : 30/04/2020
  • Announcement : 03/05/2020

The jury will be composed of members of the institutions involved.

Grant

Each artist will sign a contract and receive a grant of 1 500 euros.

Legal notice

The works will stay the property of the artist but will be used by the French Institute and the partners during the project and may be re-used for non-commercial purposes with the prior information of the artists

Epidemic diary is a project proposed and funded by the French institute in Jerusalem, in partnership with Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, El Hakawati theater, Sareyyet Ramallah, Shababek collective in Gaza.