Expressions of interest to this open call are invited from experienced professional artists, designers and organisations based in the UK to create a new piece of projection mapping work for this exciting European programme.

Leeds City Council is submitting a funding bid to Creative Europe as part of a consortium with 5 other European cities to support the development of European projection artists and light festivals.

If the consortium bid is successful, each partner will present 4 commissioned light projections in their city between June 2016 - March 2018. The Leeds projections will be hosted at our annual Light Night Leeds Festival in October and will complement the current programme of activities.

Expressions of interest to this open call are invited from experienced professional artists, designers and organisations based in the UK to create a new piece of projection mapping work for this exciting European programme.

Project Brief

We are looking for light based projections to be delivered as part of Light Night. The proposals may be abstract, sequence or pattern based. The artwork can be durational to last all evening; or shorter in length and designed to be looped. The artwork must have cross-generational appeal and inspire a sense of wonder in everyone who sees and hears it. The work will be shown for two nights as part of Leeds annual Light Night festival in either 2016 or 2017.

There are 4 themes for the projections:

·         Reconnecting local inhabitants to the rivers, canals or the sea that is a feature of each city

·         Exploring the notion of heritage and in what contexts light art can be used to enhance it

·         Innovation and interactivity – how can the public interact / can create a light projection

·         Create a light projection to engage with residents in an area surrounding the city centre in an area of social deprivation

Practical requirements

·         The commission must be for original work, this might be a brand new piece or a significant development from an earlier piece of work based on one of the key themes.

·         The artwork will run for approximately 5 hours each evening (exact times to be confirmed). Work designed to be looped over the course of the evening must be a minimum of 15 minutes in length.

·         The sound composition must be integral to the work and must be sympathetic to the surrounding area it is hosted in.

·         As there are 4 themes, artists can propose more than 1 idea but will only be commissioned to deliver 1 per year (the decision for the order of commissions will be agreed with the European partners and the Light Night team depending on the submissions received)

·         Projects must be deliverable within budget and to agreed timescales.

·         As this project will be part of the wider Light Night programme, applicants must be aware they will be responsible for all aspects of the delivery of their work. It is essential that you have the experience to oversee the installation/ operation of the piece.

·         Applicants must also be available to work with Light Night to promote the project in advance of the event and be available for promotional activities.

Budget

·         The budget available for each commission will be £30,000 inc VAT, to include all development and production, if the project requires further funding it is the responsibility of the artist to source the additional matchfunding.

·         Budgets must include all artistic fees and project development, production, infrastructure and artist costs, including travel and accommodation.

Eligibility

·         Applications are open to established artists, designers, groups or organisations who can clearly demonstrate experience of leading on successful large projection mapping projects of a similar nature.

·         Applicants need to be currently based in the UK, however we are committed to specifically commission one project from a Leeds based artist

·         Subject to funding there is potential for an artist from each commission to be invited to attend another partner festival or partner conference which will look at different aspects of light projection and delivering light based festival. Also we are aiming to support one artist from each city to remap their work at a partner festival during the project.

Schedule

·         Deadline for submissions: Monday 7 September 2015 at midnight

·         Interviews: Tuesday 14 – Thursday 17 September

·         Submission to Creative Europe: October

·         Creative Europe awards to be announced: March 2016

·         Project development: Year 1 projects June – October 2016 Year 2 projects April – October 2017

·         Project delivery: October 2016 or 2017

·         Evaluation completed: 8 weeks after your event

How to apply

Please submit

·         An outline proposal including images (no more than 5 sides of A4) and/or a video pitch (of around 5 minutes in length). Projects do not need to be fully formed at the proposal stage but should demonstrate clear viability.

·         Please let us know where your video is hosted (eg Vimeo or Youtube) along with any password required to view the content if it is not publicly accessible. Alternatively you can supply in DVD format.

·         Detailed project budget (supplied in Word, Excel or PDF format).

·         Artists or organisations background information and supporting evidence. This must demonstrate experience of delivering successful large projection mapping projects.

·         Applications from organisations/producers should include confirmed details of the Lead Artists involved.

Our Process

·         Applications will be assessed by the Light Night team.

·         Short-listed applicants will be invited to interview.

·         The selected applicant proposal and budget will be submitted as part of the Leeds element of the Creative Europe programme

·         If the funding is successful, each artist will be informed in March 2016 for year 1 projects to commence in June 2016 and year 2 January 2017.

·         Light Night reserves the right to choose the order of commissions, re-open the call or not to make an award if applications are deemed unsuitable.

If you have any questions about the commission please contact us through Curatorspace before 4pm on Friday 21st August.

Art, Light, City programme

Leeds has been approached by Lille the lead partner to join the Art, Light, City project. The project is currently made up of the following cities / festivals:

·         Leeds, UK                   Lille, France                Limerick, Ireland

·         Lodz, Poland               Rabat, Malta               Valladiod, Spain

The project idea

Across Europe, more and more towns and cities are organising light festivals. These different events share, more often than not, common goals, such as taking art out of galleries and into the streets, promoting young artists/light designers, highlighting historical and architectural heritage, increasing the attractiveness of the city, combatting social problems by bringing people together.

This project will pool the respective experience, knowledge, skills, resources and ideas of different practitioners from the European creative sector, to determine, through discussion and debate as well as practical applications, the conditions necessary for artistic and cultural lighting events to be successful and sustainable and to have the greatest possible impact.

Each festival partner will be expected to commission two projections per year. They will also host one artist driven conference based around light festivals. Finally there is an aim if additional funding is secured that one artist from each partner city will be invited to recreate their work in an alternative city and a selection of artists to attend and experience another festival. The aim is to transfer experience, pool resources and explore how European cross collaboration of such events would be mutually beneficial to the project partners but also to other organisations in the cultural and creative sector wishing to develop a light festival.

About Light Night Leeds

Light Night is an annual event that takes place in Leeds city centre each October where artists, makers and performers transform the city’s streets and buildings for an unforgettable evening of exhibitions, installations and performances. In 2014 an audience of 50,000 people attended Light Night experiencing 67 different events and performances spread over 30 locations in the city centre.  Light Night has a track record of exhibiting exciting large-scale light projections with recent commissions Momentous and Theatre of Illumination creating spectacular shows on the façade of Leeds Civic Hall.  Through the European project the festival is excited to push the boundaries by hosting new exciting projection mapping projects.

www.lightnightleeds.co.uk