The open call is now closed. Thank you to everyone who applied.
We expect to announce results by mid-September.
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The creative process is a political act.
In the fight against the forces that strive to separate and alienate us, art must become a catalyst. It must conceive new bonds and possibilities, offer alternative futures, and act as an antidote for cynicism and hopelessness.
MODERN BODY FESTIVAL
Modern Body Festival is an intermedia initiative at the convergence of art and technology, founded and directed by artists. The festival examines the nature of our current existence through thematic editions that curate experiences – physical, visceral, immersive and intimate. We seek the modern body within the new worlds that emerge when different artforms intersect, collide, and modulate each other, focusing specifically in the open field that exists between artforms – new media, dance, music, installation art, interactive art, performance, theater, architecture.
The theme for our 2018 biennial is ALIEN BODIES. In this edition we come out of the cocoon of the self (MBF2014), and the safe harbors of the group (MBF2016) to explore the alien, the unknown, the ‘other’. At the same time, we use a process of controlled alienation to observe our own selves and our societal bubbles from a distance, with the eyes of the alien. Modern Body Festival 2018: ALIEN BODIES will take place in fall 2018 (October – November) in The Hague, the Netherlands, over several weekends and in various locations throughout the city.
THEME: ALIEN BODIES
‘Everyone’s quick to blame the alien.’ Aeschylus, The Suppliants (490BC)
With ALIEN BODIES, we want to seek, confront and empathize with the alien, whether that is our environment, ecosystem, other organisms (animals, plants, microorganisms), objects and matter, man-made technological aliens (robots, AIs and our algorithmic fabrications), the alienness of political, economical and cultural structures, or alien human beings in places near or remote who have become the invisible or undecipherable other.
We recognize that first and foremost the notion of the Alien is related to fear. While this fear is deeply human, as Aeschylus’ verse from 2500 years ago makes apparent, Modern Body Festival’s approach aims to overcome it. The goal is symbiosis and collaboration, not strife, nor annihilation, nor neglect. In this process, we see becoming the alien as a crucial strategy for learning how to interact with the world and understanding ourselves and our context.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Our 2018 edition will present finished and commissioned works filling the spectrum of intermediality. We are looking for finished, or near-finished, works that resonate with this year’s theme. We are very open about discipline and format. We welcome works operating in or between installation, performance art, interactive and participatory art, music and sound art, dance, theater, bio art, circus, objects, environments, performances, walks, processions, architecture, sculpture, video art – anything is possible! We are also taking abstracts for possible symposium speakers.
Up to 3 submissions per artist/group are possible; please submit a separate, complete application for each project.
WHEN / WHERE
The works will be presented either 26-28 October or 2-3 November 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands, as part of the Modern Body Festival showcase, and will also be featured on our website and press releases.
CONDITIONS / WHAT WE PROVIDE
• Exhibition/performance fee
• Travel & accommodation for international artists (limited – we are very happy to help in securing travel funds from local funding bodies)
• Professional video / audio / photographic documentation
DEADLINE: 31 JULY 2018
DEADLINE (EXTENDED): 6 AUGUST 2018
THE OPEN CALL IS NOW CLOSED
Only submissions through the online form will be accepted
For questions please email opencall@modernbodyfestival.org