Applications open for Fashion Designers

Deadline: 8 September 2023

As a part of ECHO Academies Project, a Creative Europe project coordinated by Inter Alia and coordinated for Bulgaria by Open Space foundation, ECHO Academy in Smolyan town is looking for fashion designers who are motivated to contribute with new artistic perspectives on the topic of Fashion Heritage.

The project aims to nurture talents, build capacities, create networks, allow synergies and expand the visibility of artistic works on a cross-national and international level.

The Academy in Bulgaria is looking for 10 individuals who will develop artworks and create proposals for their development as pilot projects. Participants of the Academy will be inspired by the reuse and reinterpretation of the beatiness of Bulgarian folklore costumes of Rhodopes region. Project ideas will be presented and linked to artworks that will be created by the participants during the Academy. Artworks will be visual elements such as sketches of design collections of clothes, shoes, jewelry and/or accessories. The artworks will be developed with the help and facilitation of artistic supervisors, academic researchers, and production partners through the Academy. The artworks will be presented in an exhibition in the town of Smolyan, and in an online art-shop.

ECHO Academies, based on the experience of implementing “ECHO: European Cultural Heritage Onstage”, “ECHO II: Traditions in Transition” and “ECHO III: For Memory’s Sake”, addresses issues of visibility, networking, employability and opportunities to enter the art market for new European talents. For that purpose, it uses heritage as an inspirational tool, building on the values of the European and global perceptions of heritage.

Aims

Having an EU and non-EU Balkan Region exchange focus and character, ECHO Academies aims to:
- Cultivate and nurture young and emerging European talents from the fields of arts and the CCS in order to enhance resilience through monothematic, small-scale creative academies in the fields of comics (in Greece), fashion design (in Bulgaria), music (in North Macedonia), photography and architecture (in Hungary) by exploring different expressions of European heritage.
- Offer training opportunities and build capacities for artists and CCS professionals in order to improve employability through Capacity Building Activities (CBAs) that offer new tools and skills.
- Create networks between artists and CCS professionals with the art market by facilitating networking and synergy-building that will help artists generate jobs and growth, and
- Promote artists and their work on the international level in order to increase opportunities and outreach by supporting them in terms of resources in the implementation of pilot projects for selected Academies’ artists in order to generate jobs and growth, and by performing targeted communication and dissemination of the artists, their artworks, and projects internationally.

What they offer: Participant opportunities and support?

What they will provide:
- Exposure through ECHO Academies’ dissemination and engagement activities, such as announcements, networking and events, social media, video and photo documentation, and general promotion of ECHO Academies’ work through its large partner network.
- A cross-border and cross-disciplinary opportunity for exchange and artistic enrichment with fellow artists across Europe, including activities with partners and collaborators.
- Professional development support and in-depth knowledge of ECHO Academies’ core topics, provided by experts and specialists and facilitation by academic researchers, and project partners.
- The accommodation and travel expenses, and the per diem costs of the selected creatives are supported by the Project during their stay in Smolyan town.
- Mentorship programme on project development from ideas to implementation, and consultations for marketability.
Three winning projects will received:
- an award for the III place: 1000 EUR, for the II place: 2000 EUR and for the I-st place: 3000 EUR;
- for project implementation – 1000 EUR for the creative individual and 1000 EUR for each local micro-organisation whom the winner will work with.

What they support?

Project ideas with elements that reflect on reinterpretation and reimagination of elements of folklore costumes of Rhodopes region.
Project ideas that can be presented in different stakeholders (private customers, textile factories, theater institutions etc.).

What they expect?

What they ask from participants:
- Participation: They expect that selected creatives will participate in the ECHO Academies’ events, including the Academy in Smolyan and the final event. Please note that attendance of Academy in Smolayn lasting for 21 days in total, 7 days out of this requires physical presence in Smolyan.
- Attendance: The selected creatives are expected to attend and engage in online mentoring meetings, consultancy sessions, two online forum events, online progress reviews and contribute to the project’s reporting.
- Engagement: Creatives must be committed to ECHO Academies’ objectives. As success depends on the activation and engagement of European audiences, creatives are encouraged to support ECHO Academies’ general communication by using their personal and professional communication channels and networks.
- Commitment: A contract with the ECHO Academies Consortium, open to the creatives’ proposals, will define the terms and conditions for the intellectual property rights of digital artworks. In any case, any participants will be asked to grant all necessary rights for the dissemination of their work in any activities directly related to this Project.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants that are legal residents in the countries within the Creative Europe framework and non-EU countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). The selection of the ten (10) participating artists will consist of 5 artists from the EU and 5 artists from the Western Balkan.
Applicants should have skills in fashion design.
Young and emerging creatives between 18 and 35.
Good English language communication skills, as the working language is English.

Details