Deadline: 26-May-21
The Swiss Arts Council is seeking applications for its Connect South Africa Program to support activities and projects exploring technological and scientific developments from an artistic perspective, in dialogue with researchers. The focus is on exploring and utilizing the potential for mutual inspiration and collaboration.
Connect South Africa supports artistic residencies in Switzerland and in South Africa that germinate new projects, which in turn feed into and animate an ongoing programme of professional exchange between artists and scientists across this international network.
Since 2014 CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, and Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council have worked together to foster experimentation through the arts in connection with fundamental science. In 2021 CERN and Pro Helvetia are launching Connect, a new collaboration framework that marks the extension of their joint efforts on supporting and promoting dialogue between artists and scientists.
Funding Information
Connect South Africa awards one individual artist from Switzerland and one individual artist from Southern, East or West Africa with a funded residency at CERN, Geneva, and at the South African contexts. The grant includes the following support and conditions for each artist:
- A production stipend of 6,000 CHF I US$ 6,500.
- Living expenses in Switzerland and in South Africa.
- International travel costs and local travel, when required, and accommodation at CERN, Geneva, and across various locations in South Africa – principally Cape Town, Johannesburg, the Northern Cape.
Eligible countries
- Connect South Africa will grant a funded residency to one artist from Switzerland and one artist from Southern, East or West Africa.
- An artist will be considered “Swiss” if they hold Swiss nationality or have a right of residence in Switzerland.
- Artists from the following countries are eligible: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Kenya, Comoros, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Zambia, Sao Tome and Préncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Chad, Uganda, Central African Republic and Zimbabwe.
Criteria
The Connect South Africa Call for Applications encourages the participation of artists interested in the ideas and who meet any of the following criteria:
- Artists interested in the cultural significance of scientific research and technology.
- Artists interested in extending their connection with the field of physics and sciences of the universe, and to enter in dialogue with scientists and engineers, and staff at CERN, and scientists of the observatories of SARAO and SAAO in South Africa.
- Artists pushing the traditional forms of dialogue with other fields of research, and keen to ask innovative questions across disciplines.
- Artists interested in the scientific community and the interaction with its social fabric and its history and narratives.
- Artists whose work and proposal aims to reflect on new models of social enquiry, the potential synergies between art and science, and to offer challenging methods of exchange and enquiry.
- Artists with a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and flexibly across different social-cultural and institutional worlds.
- Artists from a discipline supported by Pro Helvetia (visual arts, music, literature, performing arts, design, and interactive media)and meeting the general Pro Helvetia criteria:
- A convincing body of work and track record.
- A significant footprint in the arts scene of the respective contexts of Switzerland and South, East and West Africa.
For more information, visit https://johannesburg.prohelvetia.org/en/2021/05/05/connect-south-africa-call-for-applications/
