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Call for submissions: Focus on Sustainability Film Festival

The second annual Focus on Sustainability Film Festival will return to York University in the winter semester of 2013 with a spotlight on the increasingly vital and complex topic of food.

In addition to feature films, panel discussions and prizes centred on food, the upcoming festival also gives local filmmakers in the York University community an opportunity to have their food-related film featured. Following the submission deadline, festival presenters will choose one prize-winning film to be highlighted and up to three runner-up films to be exhibited.

Submission Requirements:

  • York University enrolled (or previously enrolled) student in any department
  • Run time for films must not exceed 60 minutes
  • Films must be focused on any food related issue
  • Suggestions include: animal rights, agriculture, veganism/vegetarianism, local/global

The deadline is Jan. 10, 2013. E-mail submissions to Jessica Reeve, IRIS junior fellow, at jreeve@yorku.ca or bring it to 395 York Lanes, the office of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability.

Submissions must be in digital formats accompanied by a 250-word abstract, title and contact information.

This call for submission is brought to you by the Osgoode Environmental Law Society, the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability and the Climate Consortium for Research Action Integration.

For more information, contact Jessica Reeve at jreeve@yorku.ca.

Workshop/Conference: Volunteering in times of crisis

This post comes to you from Cultura21

RECREATURA is a non-profit organisation supporting innovative and creative art projects in order to support an active European citizenship. The two-day conference concerning “Volunteering in times of crisis” takes place on March 2 and 3, 2012 and aims to promote volunteering in European cities. Against the backdrop of the consequences from the recent crisis and high unemployment especially among young people in Spain, the conference will discuss the effects of the crisis on active citizenship and volunteering.

The event will be in English and Spanish and a variety of experts, representatives of NGOs, local governments and others will take part in the conference. If you are interested in participating – either as participant or speaker – please get in touch with Dorothee Fischer, Vice-President RECREATURA_arts&culture, dorotheefischer [at] gmail [dot] com. Participants need to sign up by e-mail by 28 February at the very latest.

Information on the schedule can be found in the PDF file Draft Agenda here.
For details about the background of the project see www.recreatura.com and www.alda-europe.eu

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Call for Submissions: Horizons – Arts in Nature

This post comes to you from Cultura21

France - The Horizons – Arts in Nature event will take place between the 16th June and 16th September 2012. It is the 6th of a contemporary art event based on short-lived visual works of art.

Managed by the Sancy Tourist Office, the call for projects involves the creation of 11 works of art in the Sancy Massif located in the heart of the Massif Central in France and exceptionally within the theme park Vulcania.

The works of art will be put up in places where they highlight the surrounding countryside’s qualities. Discovery trails and Art workshops for children are held around the art piece in order to mediate their content.

The event aims at developing contemporary art in the area, allowing professional artists to contribute their sensitivity to the area. Furthermore it is supposed to reinforce the growth of tourism in the Sancy Massif by addressing so-called cultural tourists as well as people passing through.

The event is open to artists with a strong national or/and international artistic experience and to young talents, who just or recently – less than 2 years- graduated from art school.

To download the application form for 2012, description of the territory and listing of the sites please go to the website of the event:
www.horizons-sancy.com (section: ESPACE PRO)

For further information about the territory, please visit the Sancy website: www.sancy.com
Contact:
Magalie Vassenet
E-mail: m [dot] vassenet [at] sancy [dot] com

Deadline for reception of the applications: Monday 19th December 2011, to the address below:
Horizons – Rencontres Arts Nature – Office de Tourisme du Sancy
Allée du Lieutenant Farmont – 63 240 LE MONT DORE

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Culture|Futures conference in Milan, Italy: Oct 19, 2011

This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

The amazing Palazzo Marino in Milan will October 19th 2011 be the setting for another international Culture|Futures conference, which in Milan is organised by Ragnarock Association in cooperation with the City of Milano and other partners.

The conference will discuss the role that Scandinavian and Italian actors in the creative industry have in reaching an ecological age that is the Culture|Futures vision for 2050.

The conference will also be focusing on the way design, food, fashion and innovation can guide people towards more sustainable standards of living in the next few years.

To speak at the conference, Culture|Futures and Ragnarock have invited several guests from the sector to talk about how they connect creativity and sustainability, the guest-list includes among many others Kigge Hvid (CEO of INDEX), Francesco Paulo Zurlo (Vice director of INDACO) and Guizy Bettoni (Director of CLASS).

For further details on the Culture|Futures Conference in Milan and the full program and guest-list of the day download the Culture Futures programme

For registration  please write conferenza@ragnarock.eu

Please also see, RSVP the Italia Facebook Event page

If any other question, please contact:

Elisabetta Ferrario

e-mail: elisabettaferrario@ragnarock.eu
mobile: (+39) 3473578941.

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
Go toThis post comes to you from Culture|Futures

Public Art Team realities:united Sends Smoke Rings as a Reminder of CO2 Emission

Rendering ©2010 by BIG http://www.big.dk

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

BIG architects, developed in collaboration with art studio realities:united, AKT, Topotek 1 and Man Made Land, has won an international competition to design a new Waste-to-Energy Plant for Copenhagen that doubles as a ski slope for Copenhagen’s citizens and a public art symbol of the city’s CO2 emission.

The new Waste-to-Energy plant will be an international model in the field of waste management and energy production, as well as an architectural landmark in the cityscape of Copenhagen. The project is the single largest environmental initiative in Denmark with a budget of 3,5 Billion DKK (approx. 658 million USD), and replaces the adjacent 40 year old Amagerforbraending plant, integrating the latest technologies in waste treatment and environmental performance. BIG’s progressive building design will turn the roof of the new facility into an ecological ski slope deepening the connection between the citizens of Copenhagen and redefining the relationship between the waste plant and the public.

Photo ©2000 by Jürg Alean http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/

The public art component of the project, BIG VORTEX, designed by Berlin-based artists realities:united answers the question “What does a ton of CO2 look like?” The modified smokestack acts as a gentle reminder of the residues of waste burning. The gas will leave the smokestack as revolving gas clouds in the shape of smoke rings (toroidal vortex shape), which become visible due to the condensation of water in the flue gases as they slowly rise and cool, before slowly resolving into the air.

Each smoke ring, approximately 30 meters in diameter and 3 meters in height, constitutes exactly one ton of fossil carbon dioxide, which is added to the atmosphere. By using art to make the waste visible to the public the rather abstract pollution aspect becomes something the public can see and relate to.  On average the ring will remain stable for about 45 seconds, serving as a gentle reminder of the impact of consumption. At night, heat tracking lights will be used to position lasers onto the smoke rings turning them into glowing artworks over the city.

realities:united studio for art and architecture. E-Mail: info@realU.de

realities:united studio for art and architecture. E-Mail: info@realU.de

PROJECT INFORMATION:

Project: Waste-to-Energy Plant

Client: Amagerforbraending

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Budget: 3,5 BL DKK; 650 MIL USD, 460 MIL EUR

Smoke Rings: approx. 30m diameter, 3 meter height, 1 ton Co2

Architect: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Project Artist: realities:united, studio for art and architecture (Smoke Ring Generator), Jan Edler, Tim Edler, Erik Levander, Daniel Mock

Collaborators: AKT (Façade & Structural Consulting), Topotek 1/Man Made Land (Landscape)

BIG Team: Bjarke Ingels, David Zahle, Brian Yang, Jelena Vucic, Alina Tamosiunaite, Armor Gutierrez, Maciej Zawadzki, Jakob Lange, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Daniel Selensky, Gül Ertekin, Xing Xiong, Sunming Lee, Long Zuo

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

Go to Green Public Art

The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture

Internationally-known Expedition Artist Presents:  “The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture ”  in Santa Monica on February 15
Presented in conjunction with the LA Chapter of the US Green Building Council

Danielle Eubank, internationally-recognized Expedition Artist, is presenting a lecture on Tuesday, February 15 at the Santa Monica Main Library at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.  The lecture, scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, will focus on Eubank’s experience sailing – and painting – the oceans of the world.

“Sometimes in order to move forward in a more sustainable way, we have to look back and explore how things were done in earlier times,” said Eubank.  “The Time Machine in my lecture title refers to how Phoenicia is a floating time machine – living archeology – that brings the past into the modern era.”

Eubank was Expedition Artist aboard Phoenicia, a recreation of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician boat that recently finished a two-year journey circumnavigating Africa. Eubank’s work as an Expedition Artist has taken her to Indonesia, Seychelles, all around the African coasts and throughout the Mediterranean.

Eubank lectures widely throughout Southern California and Great Britain on the intersection of art, the environment and sustainability.  Eubank’s perspective on “what green means in the world of art” brings a unique voice to the discussion of sustainability, with her most recent opinion piece running in the Los Angeles Daily News on November 15, 2010 in association with America Recycles Day.

This summer, Eubank has an important solo show at Thompson’s Gallery in London’s West End opening July 6, which will feature the very latest work from Eubank’s travels aboard Phoenicia.

The February 15 lecture is open to the public.  For more information on the event, please contact Dominique Smith at (310) 902-2811 or e-mail dsmith@usgbc-la.org by February 12.

Nevada Museum of Art|Artists | Writers | Environments: A Grant Program

Teams of visual artists and writers who are U.S. citizens working on art + environment projects anywhere in the world from July 2010 through August 2011 will be eligible to apply for the first A | W | E Grant. Letters of interest must be received via e-mail on or before Friday, April 16, 2010 with invited applications due on or before June 22, 2010. The grant recipients will be announced on or before July 6, 2010.

A | W | E Grants

In 2010 the CA+E is piloting a grant program for visual artists and writers working together in the field. The purpose of the program is to encourage the creation of new art + environment projects that seek to address environmental challenges rather than simply comment on them, to foster deeper and more immediate public awareness of art + environment projects, and to encourage unique field reports of lasting value to scholars and other artists. The intent is for the writer(s) to document, report upon, and/or analyze the work of the artist(s) and its environmental context, not to provide creative responses such as fiction or poetry.

During this first year, one grant of $10,000 will be awarded to a team of artist(s) and writer(s) engaged in art + environment projects. Of particular interest will be those proposals addressing communities stressed by global change. Publication venues by writers can include articles in magazines, journals, or online, and chapters or essays in books, but significant public outreach will be favored.

Eligibility

Eligible teams will include at least one visual artist working in the field and one writer to accompany the artist into the field during the project. Artists can work in any medium, and the writers range from journalists to art historians. The total amount of the award may be divided between the artists and writers in any way they see fit. Funds may be used for travel, per diem, materials, equipment, and other costs, including time to work.

Applications during this first year are open only to artists and writers who are U.S. citizens, although they may work anywhere in the world. In future years we hope to broaden eligibility to artists and writers from other countries.

Application Process, Deadlines, Timeline

Interested artists and/or writers should submit a two-page letter of interest by e-mail on or before Friday, April 16, 2010. Letters should include a brief project description, budget and biographies of the artist(s) and writer(s). Please identify your letter of the artist(s) and writer(s). Please identify your letter of interest in the subject line of the e-mail when submitting as “AWE letter.”

Finalists will be selected by July 6, 2010 and invited to mail in a physical application that will include a longer narrative, budget, documentation of citizenship and previous works, and resumes.

Applications will be due on or before June 22, 2010 with the award announced on or before April 16, 2010. Finalist proposals will be posted on the Museum’s website, as well as that of the award recipient, upon awarding of the grant.

Archives, Exhibitions, Presentations

Finalists’ application materials will not be returned, but become part of the CA+E Archives. Although the artworks and writings of the grant recipients will remain property of their creators, the CA+E will collect related project materials of the funded project for its archives.

Results of the funded project will be exhibited at the Museum, and the recipients of the grant be invited to present their work.

FAQ’s

We strongly suggest that applicants visit the Nevada Museum of Art website and navigate to the Center for Art + Environment pages, and in particular the A | W | E FAQ page for more information. The FAQs may be updated periodically as we receive questions.

Contact

Letters of interest sent via e-mail with the subject line “AWE letter,” as well as any questions, should be directed to Rosalind Bedell, CA+E Manager at Rosalind Bedell or 775.329.3333 ex. 252

Funding

The A | W | E Grant is supported by the The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Call for Papers: 2nd UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education

25-28 May, 2010, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Deadline for submissions:  February 15, 2010

A call for paper proposals for the 2nd UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education has been posted on the conference website.  http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/401_callforpaper.jsp

Before submitting a paper proposal, contributors must register on the website.  http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/301_regis.jsp

The following information was taken from the conference website http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/con_info/101_greeting.jsp and from a message distributed by the organizers.  It appears that organizers may now be accepting only abstracts submitted via the website although email and fax addresses are also provided.

Language

Abstract(s) must be written in either ENGLISH or in FRENCH.

English: English abstracts can be submitted electronically through the online system of the official website or

via e-mail at 2010artsedu@korea.kr. We also welcome abstracts submitted by fax: +82 2 2075 6317.

French: We appreciate all French abstracts submitted via e-mail at fr_artsedu@naver.com or also by fax: +82 2 2075 6317.

Conference Framework

Convened at the initiative of UNESCO, in close partnership with the Government of Republic of Korea, the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education will take place in Seoul from 25th to 28th of May, 2010. The Conference will bring together representatives of Ministries of Education and/or Culture from the UNESCO Member States, as well as various experts, researchers and practitioners in the area of Arts Education.

Researchers are invited to submit abstracts for paper presentations within the framework of the upcoming World Conference on Arts Education. Abstracts from any relevant discipline will be considered, provided they make an original academic contribution to the research of arts education and its effects. All workshop topics are listed in the Appendix 1 and also available on the following webpage: http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/201_detail.jsp. The Steering Committee will endeavor to schedule abstracts according to authors’ preferences but reserves the right to decide on the final form of presentation. We particularly seek proposals for research papers on the following topics within the realm of Arts Education:

  • Arts education practices after the Road Map: contextualizing the Road Map
  • Encouraging cooperation and partnerships: within and beyond school
  • Developing the capacity of arts education practitioners: education and training system
  • Reaching out to a diversity of socio-cultural contexts and specificities
  • Healing and relieving through arts education
  • Social and economic intervention of arts education
  • Evidence, language of advocacy: indicators of arts education, evidence-based policy making
  • Building information gateway: Arts Education Glossary and Observatories
  • Renewed language of arts education: Creativity, interaction between theory and practice

DESIGN-AND-BUILD EARTH ARchiTecture RESIDENCY in Ghana

Download Call as PDF

http://www.focusonthearts.org
http://afropoets.tripod.com/eta
E-mail: africoae@gmail.com

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

ARchiTecture Residency: DESIGN-BUILD-AND-LIVE IN PROJECT

Target Group: International

Discipline: All the arts (visual, performing, literary and new genres), Architecture

Duration: 3 to 24 months according to project scope and nature of funding.

Organizing Institution: FOTA Foundation, a registered NGO in Ghana (FOTA is an acronym for “focus on the arts”)

This is a project-based residency opportunity for creative persons in earth architecture, earth art/ land art/ earthworks, engineering, and others who can design-and-build dwellings or non-dwellings out of earth and other materials from the environment.

Working individually or in teams, the participant in the ARchiTecture (art+architecture) Residency Project will live in the village next to our 800-acre Artist Village in development at Maabang in the Ashanti Region of Ghana until the participant completes the project on the 800 acreage and can move in. Project is open to traditional and  modern construction methods, and experimental approaches that are known to work. Submissions in methods such as adobe, cob, compressed earth, rammed earth,  ceramic house, poured/cast earth, papercrete, earthbag, straw-bale, stackwall, earth-shelter, earthship, and other best practices may therefore be in order. Integration of rainwater harvesting, solar and wind energy generation system are indispensable but not obligatory. The lot size and shape are open; you could build it on 120×120 ft plot, an acre, or more. The only criteria that should be met are:

  1. Using earth/ other materials from the environment in part or in whole
  2. Creating a durable non-dwelling or a dwelling of at least three-bed rooms ready to move in
  3. production budget of between €1,000 to €5,000 Euros.

Priority may be given to those who have funding or can secure part-funding to complete their conceived project

For Architecture, in the framework of Fathy (2000), the contemporary participant specialist will be assigned a local master builder and two assistants, or as relative to the
proposed process and structure. In sum, we will collaborate with the international participant to procure her/him the per diem and accommodation, and assistance from
local specialists and interns in constructing the structures in anticipation that cross- cultural interchange and growth in knowledge and skills will be commonplace.
International participants will be responsible for sourcing own return air ticket, insurance,  and other personal costs. One of our supporting area institutions is the School of Fine  Art, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) at Kumasi; so, academic presentations and relevant others are possible.

Individuals or teams wishing to participate in the project should submit formal application to the Artistic Committee; the application should include your work plan, CV/resume, and a sample of completed works or web site to: africoae@gmail.com. The work plan should include at least 3 sketches of the floor plan/ sections/ elevations, budget, and a description of the method/materials, participants, time estimates, etc required to complete the proposed project.

Conceptual basis

The art+architecture project takes in the theoretical frame of the book, Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt by a known Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy. In it, he puts forward that an informed person can, in fact, self-build durable, aesthetic and highly functional buildings without using expensive materials. Along these lines, we are developing a model artist village on some 800 acres in Maabang in the Ahafo Ano North District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana for replication in other parts of Africa. For the locals, it will mean a resolution to the age-old problem for people of artistry- painters, sculptors, actors, dancers, musicians, designers, and others who require low-cost and expanse of space in which to live and work; and for persons in the arts from around the world, it will be a contact point for artist-in-residence for community-based arts projects, cross-cultural conferences and environmental retreats.  Thus, we will next add studios, and a multipurpose complex for conferences and community-based arts mission to these residential cottages, as would be road construction to link parts of the village.

We are equally open to some alternative Housing Development Models that work. One example is the condominium program by which International NGOs with similar goals as ours, can design-and-build their structure at own costs and pay development due of €100 per room/per year, as the grounds are owned by FOTA Foundation. If the local artist/ architect group footed all cost, the group would need to pay development due of 50 GH¢ per room/per year, as the grounds belong to our Foundation. However, we are strict that the completed structure be used solely for the purpose proposed.

Location

Maabang is a rural community in the Ahafo-Ano North District in the north-western part  of Ashanti Region. The area is located between latitude 6˚ 47’N and 7 02’N and longitude 2˚ 26’W and 2˚ 04’W. The District Hospital at Tepa is the major health facility  around the Maabang Traditional Area; there are four smaller health service stations. Like  much of Ghana, few of the roads are tarred. The project acreage is along the main road, Tepa-Goaso Road. About 85% of the working population entails farmers in cassava, yam, maize, and plantain but chiefly in cocoa. There, in the town, is a cocoa research center. Timber is one of the many traditional commodities, as the region is mostly of tropical rainforest. Maabang is in the deciduous savannah transition zone. The mean monthly temperature ranges from 26° (in August) to 30° (in March). Relative humidity is generally high, ranging between 75-80 percent in the Rainy season and 70-72 percent in the dry season. The mean annual rainfall is between 125 cm and 180cm. Nationwide, there are two main seasons, the raining season and dry season. The raining season is from approximately April to October followed by the dry season, which starts in December with the Hamattan wind blowing from the Saharan Desert and ends in March.

Arrival

Board flight from a major international airport to Kokota International Airport (ACC), and then to Sunyani Airport; Maabang is 45 minutes drive from Sunyani.

DEADLINE: Ongoing but apply at least two months in advance

TO APPLY: Candidates should send the following materials to africoae@gmail.com

  1. Formal Proposal (includes budget and work plan)
  2. Bio/resume
  3. Other relevant materials (includes work sample or web site)

For additional information go to: http://afropoets.tripod.com/eta and www.focusonthearts.org