• Utopias Lahti Festival - Open Call
• Deadline: November 20th, 2022
• Prize: 600 Eur + Exhibition
• Category: Contemporary Photography
• Entry Fees: Free
• REGISTRATION: CLOSED, Click HERE For More Opportunities
A getaway can be taken to mean denial and temporary respite, a privilege to momentarily close your eyes from unbearable conditions - but inevitably returning to them. A getaway can also be a more permanent state of transition. The decision to get away means a refusal to take part in prevailing political, social or economic conditions.
In states of getaway, tools are created for evading and changing these conditions. Getting away means imagining otherwise, struggling for an alternative future and building spaces with others for prosperity outside of existing systems and institutions. We believe the power to create lasting change is brought about by these getaway practices and the collective experiences of solidarity harboured in them.
Sustainable and equitable futures demand us to untangle ourselves from current political, ideological and social systems. The theme of Utopias Lahti 2023 invites proposals that create possibilities and tools for these getaways. How can utopian visions of alternative futures influence us to act differently in the present and what might these utopias look, feel and sound like? How can artistic processes take part in struggles for change, create solidarity and act as platforms for collective information building, action and care? How can we rethink approaches towards materials in photographic and other artistic practices to separate them from harmful modes of production?
We are looking for works that might question ideological divisions between human and non-human actors, build counter-narratives to seeing the world as a resource and advocate for the political, social and economic equality of all people. We invite artists, researchers, collectives and anyone working with these topics in a visual way to interpret the theme broadly and participate in the call.
The festival is open to proposals in different mediums, but is especially focused on lens-based and/or other medias (eg. photography, video, animation, photogrammetry, 3D, new media). We warmly invite proposals for both finished or in-progress works. VTRY will collaborate with the artist in producing their work for exhibition. Six artists/collectives proposals will be selected in December 2022 by the festival jury for exhibitions at the festival.
The members of the open call jury are artist and curator Ahmed Al-Nawas, curator Nimco Kulmiye Hussein, artist Maija Tammi and Ramboll Finland's leading expert in nature-positive solutions and former environmental director of the city of Lahti Saara Vauramo. Henri Airo & Kaisa Syrjänen will participate in the Jury with one common vote as representatives of the festival.
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