CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM CANADIAN ARTISTS
Deadline: May 24, 2020
Theme: Sensing Nature
Guest curator: Stefanie Hessler
Theme
The 2021 edition of MOMENTA | Biennale de l’image, titled Sensing Nature, is informed by a desire to unsettle the divide between nature and its representation. The exhibitions will be guided by the works of artists deeply invested in decolonizing strategies and examining queer ecologies to reimagine environmental politics and notions of the natural. MOMENTA 2021 will work towards decentring the often-foregrounded Western human creator of knowledge about the natural world to make room for stories that dwell in the blurred boundaries between culture and nature, weaving in different forms of knowing, both human and nonhuman. Audacious and hopeful, these “other” stories propose a shift in perception toward the sensibility of earth systems as narrators of their own logic. In turning toward nature’s own enunciations, the biennale explores new, caring sensitivities.
For more information, visit www.momentabiennale.com.
About the curator
Stefanie Hessler (Germany) is a curator, writer, and editor. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary systems from an intersectional feminist perspective, with a focus on the ocean and other ecologies. Hessler is the director of Kunsthall Trondheim in Norway. Her recent curatorial projects include the exhibition “Joan Jonas: Moving Off the Land II” at the Museo Thyssen in Madrid (2020); the 6th Athens Biennale (2018); and the symposium “Practices of Attention” at the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo (2018). Between 2017–2019, she was a guest professor in art theory at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm. Her book Prospecting Ocean was published by The MIT Press in 2019.
Submission guidelines
We are soliciting only artists’ works that respond to the theme Sensing Nature. We are not seeking curatorial proposals. This call for submissions is addressed only to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Type of work being sought
We are looking for works by Canadian artists that explore the idea of nature representing itself and/or the various relationships between human beings and nature and that demonstrate their complexity. For the different exhibitions, we want to investigate a multiplicity of perspectives including, but not limited to, these types of perspectives: environmental crisis, decolonization, queer ecologies, ecofeminism, science-fiction, non-Western cosmologies, practices of care.
We are interested in works that employ photographic and videographic languages, which may take diverse forms such as installations, three-dimensional works, or experience-based works. We will favour newly produced works or works that haven’t been exhibited in the province of Québec and/or Montréal.
Submission instructions
Submissions must be sent by email only (in English or French), by no later than May 24 at 11:59 PM, to: soumission2021@momentabiennale.com
Submissions should include the following:
- A short cover letter explaining how the submission relates to the theme (250 words maximum) in Word or PDF format.
- An artist statement (100 words maximum) in Word or PDF format.
- Visual supporting material, which may include:
- a maximum of 10 images (maximum 500 kb per image) in JPG (72 dpi, RGB colour mode) or PDF format. Images must be clearly identified and accompanied by a descriptive image spec sheet (title, date, medium, and dimensions).
- a link to your web page or other website featuring your work (if available). Do not send videos by email; instead, please provide a link in order to view your video(s) online.
- A short CV (3 pages maximum) in Word or PDF format.
- Your contact information (first and last name, mailing address, telephone, email address, website, country of birth, and country of residence). Artists submitting as a collective are asked to identify one participant as the project coordinator, and provide that person’s contact information.
Please note:
All submissions in compliance with the instructions described herein and received by the deadline will be carefully reviewed by the curator and MOMENTA. Since we receive a very large number of proposals, MOMENTA will contact only the applicants whose file has been selected.
All submissions must be sent by email only: any other unsolicited material sent to our offices will be neither viewed nor returned. MOMENTA and Stefanie Hessler are not responsible for unreadable, undelivered, or lost materials. Late submissions, incomplete proposals, and work unrelated to the theme will not be considered.
If you have any questions, please contact:
soumission2021@momentabiennale.com