Art and Theory Fellowship Program

At the same time, it provides a forum for direct exchange between professionals – artists, theorists, critics, and curators – from the region and abroad, as well as a point of interaction with local, interested audiences. It provides the opportunity for an artistic laboratory of experimentation, where new artistic practices and strategies may be tried out. Künstler:innenhaus Büchsenhausen is a section of the Künstler:innen Vereinigung Tirol, the main association of visual artists from the region.

Aims

• The program’s aims are:
  • to promote and relay a critical, socially relevant production of knowledge in art and art theory;
  • to produce, through the fellowship projects, qualified discourses on art and society within the local and global contexts;
  • to enable the transfer of knowledge between the field of art and other public spheres outside the art context;
  • to facilitate exchange between cultural producers in the visual arts and beyond (creating a network of experts).
  • The program combines the advantages of a residency with the possibilities of a postgraduate, non-academic research and production fellowship on the basis of an open, non-formalized structure. Content-wise, the program addresses a worldwide public made up of professionals in the fields of contemporary art, architecture, art and media theory, as well as criticism.

About Fellowship

• The Fellows are selected by a jury of experts following an open call for applications. They come to Büchsenhausen for a minimum of five months to work on the realization of their proposed undertaking and accompany this process with public events. For this purpose, Büchsenhausen assigns a monetary award and provides a production budget, a budget to facilitate the exchange with other experts and to (at least partially) cover the Fellows’ own travel costs, free access to the working space, free lodging, as well as artistic, art-theoretical, and technical advice.
• The conveyance and discussion of the Fellows’ own work occur parallel to the development of the individual proposals. The focus of the public events is determined by the respective emphases of the various Fellows’ works. Within the framework of these discursive formats, the Fellows and/or their guests can present various points in their investigations, open up their works-in-progress to critical discussion, interact with experts who they invite, work through content with the public, and/or try out new ways of working.
• The Fellowship Year starts with the Orientation Weeks in the beginning of January. The Orientation Weeks end with the Start Up Lectures. During the Focus Weeks in April, the Fellows and/or their guests publicly discuss issues related to their ongoing work, enjoy an intense exchange with their colleagues in the program, and carry out cooperation activities with other university and non-university partners and institutions. The Fellowship Year ends with a group exhibition curated by the artistic director of the Fellowship Program. The opening of the show will take place in June.

What Fellowship Offers?

• a money award of EUR 4,000
• an individual studio for working and living, furnished with a large shared kitchen
• a production budget for the realization of the submitted proposal;
• a budget for inviting experts to Büchsenhausen for the purpose of professional exchange
• a budget for (at least partially) covering the own travel costs (in relation to the Fellowship Program)
• the opportunity to present the produced work in a curated group exhibition at the end of the fellowship
• Facilities:
  • free access to the ‘Lab’, the project/gallery space
  • free use of the available multimedia production equipment in the ‘Lab’
  • free Highspeed-DSL/WLAN Internet access
  • professional artistic and art-theoretical advice
  • technical advice if required

Eligibility Criteria

• Professional visual/media artists, art theorists, art critics, and curators from all over the world are eligible for the fellowship.
• Requirements:
  • The application must include a concrete work proposition. Work on the submitted proposal forms the core of each Fellow’s activities during his/her/their stay in Büchsenhausen. A description of a series of public events intended to accompany the individual work during the duration of the fellowship (up to three events) is also an integral part of the working proposal. If the application is successful, the Fellows are required to specify the details of the presentation series and carry out the proposed program.
  • The Fellows commit themselves to be present at Büchsenhausen for the duration of the fellowship. Working knowledge of English is required.

For more information, visit Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen.