CCA Public Programme – Our Neighbourhood open call

CCA are pleased to announce an opportunity for emerging artists to work collaboratively alongside artist Sarah Browne as part of a new participatory public programme to be carried out in the winter and spring of 2014-2015.

The project will take place under the umbrella of CCA’s Our Neighbourhood programme, a two-year, socially-engaged international residency supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the Legacy Fund that explores our contexts in the city and will further CCA’s goal of connecting the local with the international and embedding the international in the local.

Browne's response to the theme of the project foregrounds the importance of building a group of participants who form a 'community of interest' for the project, rather than selecting a pre-existing group or demographic. In an effort to re-focus and create new understandings of 'the neighbourhood', the project aims to include non-human understandings of place and belonging, particularly looking at relationships between humans and animals, and animal understandings of place:

– What do animals know about our neighbourhood that we don't? – Why do we sometimes empathise more strongly with pets rather than people? – How is an art gallery different to a zoo? – Why are pornography and kittens among the most popular images to consume in our online environment?

Three respondent artists will be selected to facilitate work with a group of participants, operating in relation to the framework established by the lead artist, Sarah Browne. These artists will work alongside Browne to develop and deliver a series of sessions for participants that may include screenings, site visits and skills-based workshops. Respondents will be selected on the basis of the quality of their artistic track record as well as interest and experience in collaborative working, and the potential benefit to their practice at this time.

Time frame and locations The project will take place from November 2014 – June 2015 at CCA Derry-Londonderry and relevant off-site locations. The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 29th, 2014.

Application procedure Individual artists of all art forms are welcome to apply - visual art, film, dance, theatre, literature, etc. Please send a CV, a 500 word statement about your practice, and a cover letter detailing why you want to participate in the project to coordinator@cca-derry-londonderry.org.