CALL FOR PROPOSALS

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Artistic Research | Performing Heterotopia study circle invites proposals for workshops, interventions, presentations, performances and experiments on the theme of

ABSENCES AND SILENCES

Summer Symposium
28 July – 4 August 2019
Roosta, Estonia

We invite artists and researchers from all fields to take part in our artistic research circle, a migratory non-hierarchical group of international participants. We welcome participants from all geographical, artistic, cultural and academic contexts and backgrounds, both outside and within universities and other institutions.

The circle is developed within the framework of Nordic Summer University, which consists of thematic study circles that meet twice a year on a three-year cycle. Our 2019–2021 cycle is called Artistic Research | Performing Heterotopia and this summer symposium will be the second of six symposia taking place during this time period. The circle aims to share ways artistic research can explore, experiment with, critique, create and perform heterotopias, which are spaces, temporalities and practices that disrupt the continuity and the norms of ordinary reality. We hope not only to engage with heterotopic concepts, but to be a heterotopic space.

Theme

In the summer session we will focus on the many forms of absences and silences, and the ways they are invisibly present in everyday realities, physical and social spaces, and inner lives. We are interested in stories, experiments and contexts surrounding absent people, silenced voices and haunting experiences, as well as in possibilities of artistic practice and research to approach, create and investigate the unseen, unheard, unknown and unthought. We invite proposals of artistic research that are engaged with the qualities of absence, its sites and its presences.

Proposals for workshops, interventions, presentations, performances and experiments could consider questions and issues surrounding
– inclusion and exclusion, who is absent or present, who speaks and whose voices are unheard
– working on the periphery or inhabiting an elsewhere
– silence and its uses, languages and qualities of silence
– sites of present absences and site-specific approaches, for example, related to the history of Haapsalu or the ghosts of the Soviet era in the region
– forms of presence and absence, of silence and speech; what it means to be present or absent; what it means to participate

We encourage experimentation and collaboration, and especially alternative formats of participation beyond individual presentations. We welcome proposals for discussion or reading groups, conversations, workshops, walks or excursions, and other possible and impossible formats.

Format

Individual presentations and performances will be allocated a 30-minute slot; we are open to longer timeframes for alternative formats. Please note that, unfortunately, there may not be space for multi-hour durational events, but we will aim to dedicate some time to longer workshops and activities, especially if they can happen in parallel to other parts of the programme or in smaller groups. We would also like to have some ‘analogue sessions’ without digital technology.

To submit a proposal please send

1. A written proposal as a Word document (no more than 350 words) with a title and descriptive subtitle. This text should include your presentation proposal, its format and the facilities you need (e.g., technical equipment).

and

1. a short bio (no more than 200 words).

If you would like to attend the summer symposium without presenting, please email a short statement explaining your interest in the topic and a short bio (no more than 300 words in total). Please note that we will add your name to a list and inform you if spaces are available by 15 May. Priority will be given to those wishing to perform or present.

Applications must be sent via email to the coordinators Elina Saloranta and Alia Zapparova circle7@nsuweb.org

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS IS 1 MAY.  

Scholarship and Grant Program

Nordic Summer University will provide 18 scholarships for students and 18 grants for others in need of a subsidy in order to attend the summer session. Deadline 1 May. For more information on the application process, see here 

Please note that people who receive grants and scholarships are expected to help the summer session arrangement committee with small tasks; for example, writing blog posts, sharing their experience, distributing information if needed, and helping out with setting up and cleaning up the picnic.

ECTS

PhD and MA students are eligible for up to five ECTS points for participation and presentation of a paper.

Important dates

Deadline for proposals and scholarships and grants applications: 1 May

Applicants informed of outcome: 15 May

Preliminary schedule: 15 May

Registration and payment deadline: 1 June

Arrival in Roosta: 28 July

Departure: 4 August

The preliminary program will be announced on 15 May.

Summer session dates, location and cost

During the summer session, Nordic Summer University’s nine study circles will come together and participants can visit other circles. You can find more information about the Nordic Summer University and see the full list of circles, themes and coordinators, as well as sign up for the newsletter here: nordic.university

The summer session 2019 will take place from 28 July to 4 August in Roosta Holiday Village in Estonia. Roosta is a holiday resort that houses seminars and conferences. The resort is located at the seashore, 39 kilometres from Haapsalu and 115 kilometres from Tallinn. There are bus connections between Tallinn and Haapsalu that take two to three hours. The nearest airport is Tallinn Airport (TLL). Nordic Summer University will also arrange bus transfers from the city center of Tallinn and Tallinn airport to Roosta on 28th of July.

The cost of participation is 80 Euros for scholarship holders, 100 Euros for grant holders, and between 325 and 475 Euros for single participants staying in shared twin rooms (the price depends on type of room chosen). Children and other non-participating accompanying persons can stay in the accommodation for an additional price; family rooms are also available.

Prices include accommodation and meals as well as the conference program during the day and a cultural program in the evenings.

Parents with children

Families are welcome at the summer session. Just as in previous years, there will be a separate circle for children aged between 3 and 15 years. In the children’s circle Nordic Summer University offers a variety of activities for children and youth, running parallel to the study circles. See http://nordic.university/study-circles/childrenscircle