Berwick Visual Arts is pleased to announce applications are now open for our annual artist's residency in partnership with Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival. The residency is for a six month period beginning in April 2016 and is an opportunity for an artist with a moving image based practice to create a new work. A bursary of £8000 as well as private accommodation and studio space in Berwick-upon-Tweed are available. The outcome of the residency will be premiered at Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival between 21st and 25th September 2016

1.0 Introduction

Berwick Visual Arts and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival are committed to working in partnership to support a unique residency opportunity in town and continue to build upon the success of our joint artists in residence to date – Cecilia Stenbom in 2013, whose film ‘The Case’ went on to be shown at London Short Film Festival, Glasgow Short Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam amongst many others - and Katie Davies in 2014 whose film ‘The Lawes of the Marches’ was screened in International Short Film Festival Oberhausen’s prestigious competition programme.

Paul Rooney was 2015’s artist in residence and said the following about his residency experience:

"My work often relates to ‘place' in varying ways, and the residency and commission was a wonderful opportunity to immerse myself in a new and unique context for an extended period, an opportunity which is rarely available for commissions of new work. But above all the residency provided hugely valuable time – time to wander, to research, to read, and to make. The fact that my new work would be included in the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival at the end of my residency, alongside so many brilliant works and artists, was an ideal focus for the residency period, giving a necessary concentration for all of the speculative thought and experiment!"

The residency programme enables artists to respond to Berwick-upon-Tweed and its unique history, coastal and border location, unusual spaces, archives and collections, and social contexts.

Our residency in partnership with Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, is an opportunity for an artist working with moving image to create a new piece of work in response to the 2016 festival theme of ‘X’. The resulting work will be premiered during the festival in September 2016.

2.0 Eligibility

The residency is open to artists based in the UK and internationally.

The applicant artist must have been out of college (BA graduate) for a minimum of 3 years, or have fully completed an MA and/or PhD.

Applicants should also be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to their artistic practice through a strong track record of creating new work through projects, exhibitions and commissions.

The residency offers the successful applicant a short intense period to focus their practice on one area of work or project. Applicants must be able to work under their own initiative, be able to effectively plan and deliver an end outcome for the residency with the budget and timescale available and have the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people.

3.0 About the theme of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival 2016 

The theme of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival in 2016 is 'X'

'X' - the 24th letter in the Latin alphabet, is at once loaded with meaning and on the other hand vacant for possibility. It’s a marker for place but also an independent and indefinable variable. It's that certain je ne sais quoi in talent or great art. Though sometimes a marker for censorship or exclusion, 'X' is also at the heart of film’s potential to express complex subjects and emotions in an open and ambitious way. 

The programme of the 2016 Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival is about involving people and multiplying creative possibilities.

X for your vote,  X for your kiss,  X marks this spot

The ineffable - X, the indefinable - X, the sensorial - X, the censored - X, the censured - X the under-represented - X, the exponential X, the quintessential - X 

We are looking for a moving image artist who will produce work in response to this theme and within the context of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

In the application artist’s proposals should demonstrate an initial concept, project or way of working that you will explore during the residency and demonstrate how you will deliver this – though we are aware that proposals will evolve once the successful artist is resident in the town.

4.0 About the Residency

The residency is for a six month period and the successful applicant will be required to produce an outcome for public display at Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival between 21st and 25th September 2016.

The residency start date is to be agreed between the artist, Berwick Visual Arts and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, but it is anticipated it will commence in early April 2016.

The artist will be expected to live and work in Berwick for the residency period. Berwick Visual Arts will provide a small studio space for the artist in The Maltings Theatre and Cinema and accommodation for the duration of the residency.

The accommodation consists of a one bedroom flat, five minutes’ walk from Berwick-upon-Tweed train station, and a ten minutes’ walk from The Maltings Theatre and Cinema.

The selected artist will also be expected to provide up to four talks or presentations about their work over the course of the residency.

5.0 Funding

The funding available for the residency is up to £8000.  This figure is based on a residency period of 6 months spent living and working in the area. This figure is inclusive of artist’s commission fee, material costs and production costs for the final outcome.

Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival will provide support for the exhibition of the final outcome during the festival period.

The funding available remains the same when applied to artist collaboration, where 2 or a group of artists work as one practice.

6.0 Application process

Artists are asked to submit their proposals by completing the application form provided.  

Prior to interview applications will be assessed with the following criteria.

• Eligibility – see point 2.0
• Artistic merit of examples of previous work submitted.
• Strength of written proposal – including concept and response to themes.
• Impact and benefits to artists own practice.
• Impact and benefit to Berwick-upon Tweed, Berwick Visual Arts and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival.

APPLICATION DEADLINE is Monday 18 January 2016 at 5pm (UK Time)

Shortlisted artists will be invited for interview on Thursday 11 February 2016 in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Travel expenses will be reimbursed for those artists who are based in the UK. International artists will be invited to undertake an interview via Skype.

For more information about Berwick Visual Arts go to www.berwickvisualarts.co.uk

For more information about Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival go to www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com