About Parallel Open Call 2018 - New Artists

This call aim is to select 30 new artists working with photography that will be participating in the PARALLEL Platform 2nd Cycle, which occurs between June 2018 and September 2019. If selected, you’ll be taking part in one of the most innovative creative processes going from scratch to the exhibition, alongside with 37 other artists and curators. The jurors are looking for new artists who fit in the following definition:

Be in the early stage of her/his career; Show significant artistic potential; Be defined by artistic practice engaged with contemporary discourse; Have had no more than 2 individual and/or 3 collective exhibitions in a festival/museum; Lack international recognition.

The call is open internationally to new artists working with photography; Selection will be made paying attention to gender balance and diversity; There’s no specific theme.

PARALLEL’s working language is English, therefore all applicants must speak, understand and read English.

What winners receive

Selected artists will:

• Participate in the PARALLEL Artistic Guidance to develop a new project, with the support of a high profile tutor;

• Present their previous work in the PARALLEL Intersection Zagreb (HR), September 2018. (Travel to and from - up to 250€, accommodation and subsistence costs in Zagreb supported by the Platform);

• Present their new project to new curators at PARALLEL Curatorship Derby (UK), at FORMAT Festival, March 2019. (Travel to and from - up to 250€, accommodation and subsistence costs in Derby supported by the Platform;

• Present their project in the cycle final exhibition at PARALLEL Intersection Guimarães (PT), September 2019. (Travel to and from - up to 250€, accommodation and subsistence costs in Guimarães supported by the Platform;

• Have their project presented in as many exhibitions that they are invited to, at the Exhibition Platform;

• Have their project published in the Yearly Catalogue PARALLEL Atlas (and eventually other Exhibition Catalogues);

• Have their project promoted internationally under PARALLEL Platform activities framework;

About Parallel Platform

PARALLEL is a platform that brings together 18 creative European organisations committed to promoting cross-cultural exchanges and mentorships, in order to set new standards in contemporary photography. Members include museums, galleries, festivals, art schools and publishers – 18 of the most vibrant European cultural hubs, from16 countries, that will participate in selecting and hosting new artists and curators, organising exhibitions and promoting artistic networking. The large and diverse nature of the network ensures a wide geographical spread and a fertile ground for fostering new dialogues, sparking ideas and helping to boost creativity.

PARALLEL intends to remove artificial boundaries between artists and curators to create grounds for promoting a horizontal way of working and new forms of artistic cooperation through a process that instigates encounters to promote synergies and cross-fertilisation.

The Platform work process is implemented in two-phases: Creative Guidance - selection, tutoring, peer learning and curatorship. Exhibition Platform - a diverse exhibition network engaging exhibitors, universities and art schools. PARALLEL Platform’s 1st Cycle took place between November 2017 and September 2018.

PARALLEL is designed and led by Procur.arte and is supported by the Creative Europe Programme (2017 - 2021).

Jury

Esther Teichmann
Occupation: Artist

London based artist. She received a PhD in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art and is Head of Programme for the MRes at the RCA. Previously, she was Senior Lecturer in Photography at the University of the Arts London and Guest Professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Working with the photographic across the still and moving image, her practice looks at the relationships between loss, desire and the imaginary. Recent museum shows include Mondschwimmen at Zephyr/ REM, Mannheim andHeavy the Sea at Transformer Station in Cleveland. Esther co-edited and co-curated the book and exhibition Staging Disorder with artist Christopher Stewart , and is currently working on a monograph of visual works and essays, Fulmine, forthcoming by Stanley/ Barker.

Jörg Colberg
Occupation: Conscientious Magazine Founder and Editor

Writer, photographer, and educator based in Northampton (MA, USA). An assistant professor of photography at the University of Hartford, he is the founder and editor of CPhMag.com.

Louise Clements
Occupation: Artistic Director QUAD & Director FORMAT International Photography Festival

The Artistic Director of QUAD, a centre for contemporary art, film and new technologies in Derby UK, since 2001. The Director of FORMAT International Photography Festival, which she founded in 2004. An independent curator since 1998, she has initiated commissions, publications, mass participation and exhibitions. A Guest Curator for numerous international exhibitions and festivals, including Dong Gang Photography Festival; Photoquai Biennale; Les Rencontres Arles, Discoveries; Venice Biennale; Photo Beijing. She has contributed to many publications as producer/writer and is on the Editorial Team of RVM Magazine Italy and Archivo magazine Portugal. She is a regular juror, portfolio reviewer, speaker and award advisor throughout Europe, America & Asia

Nuno Ricou Salgado
Occupation: PARALLEL Platform Artistic Director

Working since 1990 as creative producer and project manager for several institutions in the cultural industries, Nuno is currently the artistic director of PARALLEL European Photo based Platform, before he was the creative director of Flâneur New Urban Narratives (2015-17), co-funded by the European Commission and UNESCO. Both as a producer and as a creative, Nuno developed projects related with visual arts (photography), festivals, performing arts, multimedia, music, creative markets and international cultural networks. Received the Award for Portuguese Producer of the Year 2014 - Prémio Natércia Campos. Founding member and Chairman of the Board of Procur.arte Associação Cultural (2005).

Simona Vidmar
Occupation: Maribor Art Gallery Head Curator

Gained MA in Art History in Graz, Austria and MA in Arts Management in London, UK. After curating numerous exhibitions of Slovene and international visual art, she is now head of Department for Contemporary Art at Umetnostna galerija Maribor/Maribor Art Gallery in Slovenia. Her interest lies mainly in the field of installation and new media art, design and architecture.