Continuing with the second part of our Reassemble Residency, FIBER Festival is now collaborating with the Portuguese Semibreve team inviting artistic makers and thinkers to respond to the second RE:SOURCE Open Call: The Sanctuary.

This open call encourages artists, designers, and artistic researchers based in the Netherlands to conduct artistic research around the captivating scenery encompassed within the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurês, located in the North Region of Portugal as well as the Autonomous Community of Galicia in Spain. This will lead to the creation of an art installation.

APPLY FOR THE OPEN CALL

A sanctuary is more than just a physical space, it provides refuge, comfort, and safety to those seeking shelter. Originally, the term referred to the idea that something important – something holy or someone loved – was kept within the boundaries of a sanctuary. Focusing on the preservation of something or someone. Quickly the meaning got extended to places of safety and protection from various possible threats. And within a sanctuary, there is balance, where diverse species cooperate, allowing the ecosystem to thrive, and where knowledge and secrets are kept.

Understanding the Sanctuary as the beginning of an artistic exploration into histories of transformation, regeneration, and conservation, what can we learn from the site for a more sustainable interaction between us humans and nature? Can we trace, visualize or speculate on the many symbiotic relationships that are preserved here? Guiding us towards future imaginaries of our society and the natural world around us, what can we take from illuminating and understanding the entanglement between the biosphere reserve’s inhabitants and the intricate life they create? Are you an artistic maker and thinker interested in exploring these themes and have you already done research into the topics, connecting them to bigger questions around the current climate emergency? Then we encourage you to apply to our second open call!

We warmly welcome makers based in the Netherlands to apply. This does not require a Dutch identity / nationality, but it does require a Dutch address where you are currently based or live. Additionally, you need to be registered as an artist at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Based on a number of questions, and a research and project proposal, we accept applications. Applications from artists living outside the Netherlands, or who do not have a strong and current relationship with the Dutch art sector and creative industry, will not be accepted. 

A few days after your submission, you will hear from us whether everything is complete, and we can officially accept your application.

You can apply by filling in a Google Form. Within the form we ask you to provide a written proposal for your research project and a written description of a possible presentation form or medium for an installation derived from that research. This does not have to actually be the final outcome, but what you are thinking of right now. Additionally, you have the option to share visual/audiovisual impressions of the possible work you are thinking of.

Are you in doubt about whether you are eligible for the open call? Or do you experience any other barriers to participation? We are committed to discussing options. This can also be done after submitting the open call information. Please contact us directly at allegra@fiber-space.nl.

The FIBER Festival team will work closely together with the Semibreve team to make a final selection, based on a submitted motivation, a project proposal, and the match between the artistic practice and the call subject. The team is: FIBER: Jarl Schulp and Allegra Greher / Semibreve: Rafael Machado and Luís Fernandes.

Semibreve Festival (Auaufeiomau)

The Semibreve Festival, organised since 2011 by AUAUFEIOMAU has established itself as an inescapable event in the current national and international exploratory electronic music scene. Under programs designed from the local and heritage specificities of the city of Braga, respecting principles of inclusiveness, diversity and community, the Semibreve presented, over the years, shows, orders and installations by some of the most relevant artists today, also maintaining an active role in the promotion of digital art in the North of Portugal.

AUAUFEIOMAU is a cooperative that develops its own programming initiatives, especially focused on music and sound. Activities such as the SEMIBREVE Festival, Ocupa Festival, Ciclo da Fragua, and working with partners like GNRation, which always aim to stimulate new areas of sound exploration, promote opportunities for artists to develop their projects, relate to the communities where they work, thus increasing interest in the arts.

(from https://auaufeiomau.org/festival-semibreve.php) 

Transboundary Biosphere reserve Gerês-Xurês

The Gerês-Xurés Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (RBTGX) was declared on May 27, 2009, by UNESCO, and is located in the Autonomous Community of Galicia (Spain) and the North Region (Portugal). With an area of ​​267,958 ha, of protected territory in two natural spaces divided by borders, but united by the characteristics of nature and culture. With a dense hydrographic network, ecosystems in a good state of conservation, fauna and flora species of exceptional interest for the conservation of nature and biodiversity, the Geres Xurés Transfrontier Biosphere Reserve constitutes in many aspects the differences that enrich our natural heritage and cultural, a unique reality that requires permanent collaboration in defence and revaluation.

(from https://www.reservabiosferageresxures.eu/en/natural-values)