Apply | Spacecamp

October 17th, 2022.

spaceistheplace.ch

Space Camp is a BIPOC-led initiative that ignites change through positive disruption. We co-design spaces with participants that create possibilities for sharing communal knowledge, nurturing communication skills and developing safer creative spaces. Space Camp is a co-collaborative process that uses the tools of transformative justice and accountability for our community practice. We facilitate a space where each individual will feel seen, held and attended to.

In short: Space Camp is the possibility for marginalized artists, centering BIPOC, to be together, to work together, and to receive creative impulses within a space that has actively sought to remove as many access barriers as possible. We attempt to facilitate the realization of this question: “if you didn’t have to do the additional work of moving structural barriers as an artist, what would work look like for you? What would you create?

Over 10 days we will build a communal space, share creative impulses, share cultural practices and most importantly, share JOY.

Specifics: Space Camp takes place from the 15th - the 25th of February. Our main working space will be in Tanzhaus Zürich which is located in the heart of Zürich Switzerland. Each artist receives a participation stipend of 100chf per “working day.” All days are considered working days, except for Sunday the 19th which is free for each artist, and Saturday the 25th which is a half program/travel day. Of the 15 possible spaces, at least 7 will go to artists from Zürich, which is a stipulation of our funding from the city of Zürich. The other 8 spots remain free to include artists within Switzerland and across the globe. Travel expenses will be covered for both your arrival/departure travel and for the time that you are within the residency. Those that need housing, this will also be covered.

Barrier-Free: We desire for this program to be as accessible for each artist as possible. Therefore we retain space in our budget for those who need childcare, have accessibility needs that need a more comprehensive level of care, for those who feel unable to move freely/safely through a cityscape, etc. Tanzhaus ZH is accessible through public transportation and is also generally considered an accessible space for disabled bodies. We will provide breakfast and lunch every working day. Meals are communal and we will address dietary needs accordingly.

APPLY: To apply for SPACE CAMP there are 3 possible options

Send us a written bio, and a video of no longer than 7 minutes telling us about who you are, what you do, and why you would like to be a part of SPACE CAMP. Please also include an additional statement, written or per video as to what your accessibility needs would be if any.

2. Send us a written bio, and a statement no longer than 3 pages telling us about who you are, what you do, and why you would like to be a part of SPACE CAMP. Please also include a statement as to what your accessibility needs would be if any.

3. It is also possible to nominate someone you feel may be an excellent fit for space camp. To nominate someone, please provide us with either of the options above describing why the nominee would be a good fit.

The deadline to apply was the 25th of November, 2022. Thanks to everyone who applied! Applicants will be informed of the jury’s decision by the 20th of December.

The Jury

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi

Pronoun: ‘sHit’ if not ‘she’.
Born in 1981 in Ho, Ghana, Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi [crazinisT artisT] works internationally but lives in Kumasi, Ghana.
sHit is a multidisciplinary ‘artivist’, curator, founder and artistic director of perfocraZe International Artists Residency (pIAR) which aims at promoting
exchanges between international and local artists, activists, researchers, curators and thinkers.

As a performer and installation artist, crazinisT investigates gender stereotypes, prejudices,
queerness, identity politics and conflicts, sexual stigmas and their consequences for
marginalized groups or individuals. With rituals and a gender-fluid persona, sHit employs sHits own body as a thought-provoking tool in performances, photography, video and
installations. sHit ‘life-and-live-art’ confronts issues such as: disenfranchisement, social
justice, violence, objectification, internalized oppression, anti-blackness, 'systemic indoctrination', and more.

crazinisT has performed and exhibited across the globe, including Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, Netherlands, Cape Verde, USA,Sweden, Japan, Spain.
Brazil, France and the UK. sHit has also been featured in several publications and magazines, such as I-D Vice London, I-D Vice Amsterdam, The Financial Times, King Kong Magazine, CCQ London, Maimi Rails, ‘Freeflowingvisuals’, TRT WORD Film Documentary, This is Africa, Art Ghana, Lost At E Minor, CNN, The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Tageszeitung (TAZ), Horizonte da Cena and Radio FRO.

CAITLIN SMITH

Caitlin Smith (*1983) is a Canadian composer and writer based in Vienna, Austria. She lives with several neuro-immune diseases which have often left her bed-bound for stretches of months or years, but which were only correctly diagnosed in 2022. Directly addressing both the urgency and complexity of making creative work in the context of decades of medical gaslighting, her practice uses both concrete and abstract sounds to convey sung and spoken material on themes related to feminism, disability, and inequality. She works mainly in opera, music theatre, and song forms.
She completed a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College in Toronto and is otherwise largely self-taught. Her work as a composer and writer has been awarded numerous grants and prizes, including composition grants from the Stadt Wien, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council. Smith is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers.