“Tilling Roots & Seeds” Initiative offers Four Artistic Grants (Europe)

This includes one grant specifically dedicated to the creation of a groundbreaking artwork, and three grants for 6-week research-based artist residencies, with two residencies hosted in Bologna, Italy, under the supervision of Kilowatt Bologna, in partnership with Alce Nero  and Il Poggiolo Rifugio Re-Esistente, one residency will take place in Barcelona (Spain), supervised by Quo Artis, in association with Ferrer Sustainability, Tectum Garden, Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and  Contorno Urbano.

About Tilling Roots & Seeds

• Tilling Roots & Seeds. Biodiversity Crisis and a better future for agriculture is an international cooperation project developed by Ars Electronica, Kilowatt, University of Barcelona and Quo Artis as lead partner.
• Tilling Roots and Seeds aims to enhance European cultural cooperation and capacity for artistic research and practice on the topic of the plant biodiversity crisis and sustainable food system in Europe. The project also supports the role of art as a tool to awaken a critical understanding of climate change that sheds light on how humans generate and affect it through the current food consumption systems. The project assumes that innovative solutions require the engagement of those involved in farming and food production as well as the voice of communities, as innovation can derive also from traditional knowledge.
• The overall objective of Tilling Roots and Seeds is to find collaborative ways to discover, regenerate and narrate the work of the farmers in every aspect, by working in a way that is interconnected and in harmony with the natural world and respectful of future generations.
• This project builds upon the lessons learned through the EU funded project Roots and Seeds XXI. It further expands the capabilities and opportunities of the EU creative sector to contribute to fight the biodiversity crisis and the environmental degradation of the times and opens up opportunities for artists to collaborate with the scientific and farming sectors to imagine future sustainable scenarios. It also transfers knowledge and disseminates good practices and results to the cultural and scientific sector as well as to the general public.

Objectives

• To experiment transdisciplinary collaboration between artists, researchers, local growers and consumers, to understand the relation between climate change and agriculture.
• To build capacities on climate change and sustainable food production through art and creativity, building on the ability to reconnect humankind and Nature.
• To present new narratives and rituals through artistic practices and research, that help building future sustainable food scenarios.

Focus Areas

• The project seeks to illuminate the critical connection between planetary health and the evolution of the food systems, particularly in the context of the climate and biodiversity crisis. They encourage applications that integrate scientific and statistical data to offer fresh perspectives.
• They are looking for artists or collectives that delve into:
  • new narratives or rituals regarding food production and consumption
  • agroecology and other systemic approaches to agriculture
  • transdisciplinary collaborations between disciplines aimed at better imaging the future of food;
  • food production as a practice of care
  • experiment practices of re-enchanting the world connected to the care of the land
  • techno-agrarian society
• They welcome applications from artists and collectives centered around the exploration of land stewardship and the crafting of innovative speculative narratives, critical tools and experimental practices that challenge the status quo of current unsustainable food production. They also encourage the exploration of new rituals linked to the notion of land care and the collective empowerment of local communities anywhere in Europe.

This Open Call Will Support

• Two 6-Week Research Residencies – Mentored by Kilowatt
  • The residences will be hybrid, taking place both online and in-person, and the on-site residency period will last six weeks. Accommodation in each country, along with travel and subsistence expenses, will be covered up to a maximum of 1600 EUR for each residency.
  • Residencies mentored by Kilowatt (Italy)
    • The two, 6-weeks research-led residencies, mentored by Kilowatt, will take place in collaboration with 2 organizations committed to regenerative agriculture, ecology and creativity, located in two very different contexts and with two different identities. Applicants in fact should indicate in which location they wish to undertake the residency.
• One 6-Week Research Residency – Mentored by Quo Artis
  • The residences will be hybrid, taking place both online and in-person, and the on-site residency period will last six weeks. Accommodation in each country, along with travel and subsistence expenses, will be covered up to a maximum of 1600 EUR for each residency.
  • Residency mentored by Quo Artis (Spain)
    • The 6-weeks research-led residency, mentored by Quo Artis, will take place in the Barcelona area and will be developed in collaboration with the following urban and rural horticultural organizations:
      • Ferrer Sustainability
      • Tectum Garden Glòries
      • Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera – Horts de Sant Benet
      • Contorno Urbano-Ecological & Cultural Centre
  • Details
    • Each selected artist or collective will receive a total grant of €6000 gross broken down as follows:
      • Artist Fee: €2000 gross
      • Research Grant: €4000 gross
    • This funding is dedicated to cover the costs associated with the research process, including materials, and other essential expenses incurred during the residency.
• 1 Production Grant – Mentored by Quo Artis
  • In addition to the produced artwork, the author(s) of the selected proposal will participate in the Summer School of the Resilienze Festival and the capacity-building workshop in Barcelona, and will present the produced artwork at Ars Electronica Festival in September 2025. Travel, subsistence and accommodation for the three activities will be provided.
  • Details
    • The selected artist will receive a total grant of €8000 gross broken down as follows:
      • Artist Fee: €2000 gross
      • Production Grant: €6000 gross
    • Funding dedicated to covering the costs associated with the creation and realization of the proposed artwork.

Commitments

• The authors of the four selected projects (3 residencies and 1 production grant) will take part in a 5-day Summer School organized within the Resilienze Festival in Bologna, scheduled for Summer 2024 (final dates to be confirmed by March 2024), which will have a transdisciplinary approach to ecological and biodiversity crisis and food sustainability. This activity will feed the problem definition of the creative process proposed by the artists and will allow them to gather information in order to solve or respond to the artistic mandate of the call during the residency or production research.
• The four selected artists or collectives will conduct a capacity-building workshop in the country of the mentor organization, in the early Summer of 2025, and they will present the results of their research in either Italy or Spain to the hosting farmers.
• Additionally, they will showcase their work at the Ars Electronica Festival in September 2025.
• All travel costs, subsistence and accommodation associated with participation in these activities will be covered.
• All projects must be developed in direct collaboration with farmers and residency hosts in both rural and urban contexts.

Criteria

• An official schedule will be set after the announcement of the selected projects.
• No additional benefits or extensions may be requested.
• The author or authors must mention Tilling Roots & Seeds. Biodiversity Crisis and a better future for agriculture the Support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union every time the artwork and research outcomes are exhibited or advertised by any means or in any other field.
• Reproduction rights
  • The participants must cede the texts and images reproduction non-exclusive rights to Tilling Roots & Seeds, to be used for the sole purpose of non-profit cultural dissemination.
• Acceptance of the conditions of entry
  • All applicants, by virtue of their participation, fully accept these rules.

For more information, visit Ars Electronica.