Application Guidelines
Applications for the 2023 ‘Passage’ residencies were open until 28th February 2023. The next call for applications is expected to be launched in January 2024.
For the 2023 ‘Passage’ AiR programme, the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstverein (Kemberg Culture and Art Association; Polygona Art Association) are looking forward to receiving photography & film based applications from both national and international artists into the residency programme. There are two residency places available for June 2023; with one residency awarded to a female artist who is also a mother – further referred to in this guidelines as female artist-parent.
Under the theme ‘Status Landscape’, the residencies are intended to enable an examination of the current environmental condition of the landscape of the Dübener Heide, a Natural Park in the East of Germany. The following questions can serve as suggestions: What are the expectations towards a landscape? Which ways of perceiving a landscape arise during a temporary stay on site? What is the significance of a landscape as a resource for local recreation, economy and climate? We encourage applicants to consider exploring new themes related to the region of the Dübener Heide through a temporary residency. We also encourage artists to consider using familiar or new working methods in a site-specific way.
Funding For Female Artist-Parent
One residency is reserved for a female artist who is also a mother. In this way, we would like to make it possible for mothers to bring their child with them for the duration of the residency. The Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstverein will make every effort to provide the necessary infrastructure for this e.g. to arrange child friendly accommodation and temporary childcare. It is possible to bring your partner for the duration of the stay. Additional costs arising from this (e.g. travel and accommodation costs) are to be paid by the artists themselves.
Scope Of Funding
The funding comprises:
- the arrangement and assumption of the costs for accommodation for the artists in the Dübener Heide for the duration of the four-week stay in June 2023
- the assumption of travel costs for arrival and departure up to a maximum of 500,00 EUR
- a one-time grant of 1000,00 EUR
- the assumption of the costs of transportation during the residency up to a maximum of 150,00 EUR
- for the female artist-parent, the assumption for travel costs of the child and temporary childcare for the duration of the stay up to a maximum of 600,00 EUR
Artists will submit an invoice to the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. for proof of expenses (travel costs, grant, transportation, child care etc.) including all taxes that may have to be paid by the artists. The Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. support the artists on site with research, mediation and organisational and content-related questions. All additional costs e.g. for materials are to be covered by the artists themselves.
Application
Applications must be submitted informally by email to info[at]passageair.org by 28th February 2023. As the jury is international, please use English as the language of the application.
Required details for the application are: name, first name, a valid email address. Female artist-parent please note the age of the child in the application. In addition, the following information must be attached to the email together in one pdf (max 15 MB):
- artistic curriculum vitae
- planned work project during the residency (max. 2000 characters)
- meaningful work samples
A minimum age of 18 years is required for participation in the application. There is no age restriction. There is no charge for the application. The ‘Passage’ AiR programme encourages diversity and specifically invites applications from artists of all religions, origins or gender. The artists are selected by a jury on the basis of the quality of the submitted works. The jury is composed of the chairperson of the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V., the two resident artists of the previous year and external jurors from the cultural and art sector. The jury members are announced on the ‘Passage’ website. The jury’s decision cannot be appealed. The selected artists will be informed as of 22nd March 2023.
Prerequisite For Participation
The June 2023 ‘Passage‘ AiR programme is 4 weeks in length onsite in the Dübener Heide. The ‘Passage’ AiR programme is a space to grant artists the opportunity to explore the diverse region of the Dübener Heide. The artists can use the stay for research or work in a results-oriented way.
Since the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstverein would like to especially promote exchange between children/young people and established artists, participation in the residency is tied to the implementation of a 2-day workshop for young people. The form, content and scope of the workshop are freely selectable. The Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstveren provide the necessary logistical and spatial resources for the workshop.
Welcoming artists to the Dübener Heide as part of the ‘Passage’ AiR programme also means sharing our curiosity about the guests with residents of the region. We value cultural exchanges of experience and hope that the artists will offer insights into their work to date to a public audience in the context of an artist talk.
Rural Area Dübener Heide
The Dübener Heide is a distinctly rural area. Getting around by public transport is possible, but not all places (villages and towns) can be easily reached by public transport. We recommend the purchase of a monthly ticket for public transport. These costs can be paid from the funds available to the artists for transport, see Scope of Funding. The rental of a car can be arranged. The costs for renting and operating the car are to be covered by the artists (these costs can be paid from the funds available to the artists for transportation, see Scope of Funding). Any additional costs for transport beyond this are to be covered by the artists themselves.
Accommodation
Accommodation for the artists will be provided in the Dübener Heide region. We try to take the needs of the artists into consideration and aim for separate accommodation. At the same time, we would like to promote the exchange between the two resident artists and would like to make this possible through a short distance between the accommodation locations. Especially the conditions of accommodation for the female artist-parent must be clarified in advance in consultation with the selected artist.
Authorship
The works created within the framework of the residencies are the property of the artists. The authorship and exploitation rights lie with the artists. In consultation and selection with the artists, the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstverein are granted the right to use a selection of ten images (digital photographs) in connection with public presentation and reporting on the ‘Passage’ AiR programme. Further uses beyond this will be arranged on an individual basis. It is planed to hold an exhibition after the residencies in 2024, showing the results of the residencies. For this exhibition we are trying to cover the production costs.
Privacy Policy
All data relating to the applications will be saved by the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. and Polygona Kunstverein for the purpose of the judging and passed on to the members of the jury. After the end of the judging, the data will be deleted within four weeks. For statistical purposes only, the names and countries of origin of the applicants will be saved permanently. This storage can be objected to at any time in writing by email to info[at]passageair.org. By submitting the documents required for the application, applicants agree to this data protection regulation.
Sustainability
We support and promote a sustainable stay for the residency aritsts. In concrete terms, this means for us:
– recommending that the artists travel to and from the Dübener Heide by public transport and that they also use public transport to get around during the residency
– we are able to provide 2 bicycles for the duration of the residency
– when renting the accommodation, we will pay attention to an environmentally friendly form of accommodation
– encourage the purchase of locally produced food
– we can advise the artists on how to minimise the use of materials for artistic production or how to use recycled and recyclable materials.
Jury 2023
Heike Beck co-founded the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. (Kemberg Culture and Art Association) and has been chairwoman of the association since 2020. She studied History and German Language at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. Since 1985 she has been working at the primary and secondary school Ernestine Reiske in Kemberg and since 1993 she has been deputy headmistress at this school. In 1994, she was elected to the town council of Kemberg and held various positions there until 2019 (chairwoman of the culture committee, deputy mayor, local mayor). Among other projects one main focus of the association is the establishment of the centre for cultural-historical activities ‘Altes Museum / Knabenschule’ in cooperation with the city of Kemberg and the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archaeology.
Ann-Christin Bertrand is a curator, author and lecturer in photography, currently holding the position as Head of Programme BA Camera Arts at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts/ Design & Art. In her work to date, she has combined both the practical-institutional and the scientific-academic experience. During the almost 10 years of her curatorial work at C/O Berlin Foundation, she was able to build up a large, international network of institutions, artists and experts, and has also conceived and introduced several programme formats dealing with the profound changes in photography since digitalisation and questions about the future of the medium. In addition to her curatorial work, she has given and continues to give regular lectures and seminars at numerous universities, such as Aalto University of Arts & Design Helsinki, HDK-Valand Academy of Arts & Design Gothenburg, Design Akademie Berlin, HfbK Hamburg and Folkwang University Essen. Since 2016 she has also been a lecturer in the master’s programme in photography at ECAL, University of Arts and Design Lausanne, Switzerland. Here, she has also been involved in the two research projects “Augmented Photography” and “Automated Photography” which examined the mutability of the digital photographic image as well as the increasing use and influence of automation processes in the production of photographic images. She lives in Lucerne and Berlin.
https://www.ann-christin-bertrand.com
Nela Eggenberger studied Art History at the University of Vienna. Since 2013 she has been Chief Editor of EIKON – International Magazine for Photography and Media Art, a quality international quarterly established in 1991 and published by the Austrian Institute of Photography and Media Art (Österreichisches Institut für Photographie und Medienkunst), which she is directing as well. As the Artistic Director she is responsible for programming also further activities of the institute (among them EIKON Schauraum, Edition EIKON, EIKON publications). Beyond that she realizes exhibitions with a focus on photo-related art and projects with Studio Eggenberger.
https://www.eikon.at
Instagram: n.la.gg.nb.rg.r
Daniel Mebarek is a photographer and writer based in Paris, France. He graduated from Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Photography Department of the Université de Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. Drawing from his academic background in social sciences, his artistic practice examines the relationship between personal and collective memory as well as the function of archives in the writing of history. His work has been exhibited in the United States, France and the United Kingdom. He has been recognised with prizes, grants and residencies from organizations such as PHmuseum, Magnum Photos, Photolucida, the Cité international des arts and the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP). His writings have appeared in Magnum Photos, American Suburb X and Objektiv. Daniel Mebarek was ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2022.
Instagram: daniel.mebarek
Mika Sperling is a photo-based artist currently living and working betwen Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany. She was born as the youngest of eight children in Norilsk, a mining city in Northern Siberia where her family lived for 20 years. Her family migrated to Germany in her first year of life. She studied photography and book design at the Hochschule Darmstadt and FH Bielefeld and went to the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue her MFA in 2018. Her practice is based in photography and writing and engages questions drawn from her own childhood. Her own voice often accompanies her images. Titles play a keyrole as they can carry additional information about the story. Her work explores her own family history and can challenge relationships and taboos in order to face inner fears and overcome trauma. In her recently published book ‘Mother Tongue’, Mika Sperling examines how origins and culture influence interpersonal relationships based on her personal family history. Mika Sperling is Louis Roederer Discovery Award Public Prize Winner 2022. She was ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2022.
https://mikasperling.de/
Instagram: mika_sperling
Jury 2022
The jury for the selection of the residencies in June 2022 consisted of the following members:
Heike Beck, co-founder and chairwoman of the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. (Kemberg Culture and Art Association), Kemberg, Germany. Milena Carstens, Director of Photography at ZEITmagazin Germany. Carlos Vin Lopes, filmmaker, writer and art director from Berlin. Laura Pannack, London based photographer and ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2021. Jule Schaffer, Head of the Photography Collection at the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale). Bert Villa, Ghent-based phenomenological artist-architect and ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2021. For more biographical information see the news entry here.
Jury 2021
The jury for the selection of the residencies in November 2021 consisted of the following members:
Heike Beck, co-founder and chairwoman of the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. (Kemberg Culture and Art Association), Kemberg, Germany. Louise Fedotov-Clements, Artistic Director, QUAD & Director FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby (UK). Valerio Nicoletti, art director and designer based in Berlin and Apulia (Italy). Simon Roberts, visual artist, based in Brighton (UK). Eugenie Shinkle, photographer and writer, living and working in London. Helena Weber, photo historian, living and working in Cologne. For more biographical information see the news entry here.