Deadline: 7-Jan-22
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) is inviting artistic proposals for their 2022 festival. The festival will be held 8-17 July, 2022 and it will be twenty years since the first Liverpool Arab Arts Festival was held in the city. Whether in Liverpool or online, they work with Arab artists who are living and / or working in the UK, in an Arab country or within its communities, or identify as having Arab heritage.
As a festival, they work with artists across a range of artforms, including: music, performance, theater, literature, spoken word, visual art and more. Proposals can be in any of these artforms. Outputs can include live or digital performances, events, artworks, exhibitions, workshops, public realm works, talks, panel discussions or young people’s activities.
Festival Theme
Next year their theme explores the language, how it sits at the heart of the culture, but also how they use it to connect. How we understand each other, how we come together to engage and cross the cultural boundaries. This is how we create a bridge, connecting language and culture. It is how we discover what we have in common and how we communicate. If language is at the foundation of the culture and identity, how we translate to understand each other provides a valuable meeting point.
What they’re looking for?
The call out is divided into two parts:
- New Artist Commissions
- Each year they support several artists in realizing new creative ideas. This new work must be developed beyond the concept stage to feature in the 2022 festival.
- It must be a considered proposal that could feasibly be staged within the festival, either as a physical or digital event. It must be engaging and thought-provoking, relevant to the theme of Translations.
- Brief
- They present work by emerging or established artists who are living and / or working in an Arab country or within its communities, or identify as having Arab heritage.
- They welcome proposals in any artform including music, performance, theater, literature, spoken word, visual art, installation, sculpture or any combination of these. Your work may take place physically or online.
- For a new commission this work needs to be high-quality and relevant to the audiences. They connect with arts lovers and those interested in Arab arts and culture based locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
- The work can be presented as part of the festival. It can be made in collaboration, either with another artist or community. It can potentially be hosted by a cultural organization physically in Liverpool. It has to be challenging but needs to be accessible for the audiences.
- Existing Work
- Do you have a piece of existing work that you feel would be ideal for LAAF and the festival theme? Could it be re-staged or re-purposed for the festival? Is it a touring work?
- If you are an emerging or established artists who are living and / or working in an Arab country or within its communities, or identify as having Arab heritage, and you have an artwork or performance piece you would like to be considered as part of Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, please apply.
- Requirements
- The proposal / work must be artist-led. You could partner with another organization or working within a community, but an artist must be at the center of this piece
- The theme is not prescriptive, but they would like it to be responded to. As long as you can articulate its influence.
- If submitting a proposal for a new artist commission, this must be a new, original piece of work that you own the rights to.
- While they can support travel fees, the budget is limited. A large group of artists with international travel would not be appropriate.
- All the commissions are subject to funding. This means that while they will support the development of the work and artist time, they cannot fund rehearsals and space hire during its development.
- They have compiled advice for artists to consider the environmental impact of their work and commission
For more information, visit https://www.arabartsfestival.com/laaf-2022-artist-callout/