Festival of Thrift is inviting artists to propose work for 'One Beautiful Moment' to launch this year's festival activities.

INTRODUCTION

The Festival of Thrift is the UK’s national festival of sustainability. Usually taking place over two days in Kirkleatham near Redcar on the North East coast, this hugely popular festival celebrates the joys of a climate-friendly way of life. Families, fashionistas, foodies, upcyclers, recyclers and eco-warriors are amongst the thousands who flock to the festival each year to make, eat, play, share and learn through a host of activities and entertainment. 

Alongside the main festival, VIEWPOINTS by Festival of Thrift returned for a second year in 2019 and presented a programme of temporary public artworks across the Tees Valley in response to the theme of ‘clean air’.   

In light of the challenging circumstances we find ourselves in, our plans for this year’s festival and our VIEWPOINTS commission will take a different approach. Although a large-scale festival is off the cards for 2020, the Festival of Thrift team are working hard to develop new ways of connecting with their communities online and through other routes. 

To support this work and celebrate the launch of festival activities, VIEWPOINTS will commission ‘One Beautiful Moment’ which can be engaged with through virtual means and will encourage audience participation. 

BRIEF

We are inviting artists to propose work for ‘One Beautiful Moment’ to launch the festival on the weekend of Saturday 12 September 2020. 

We are seeking creative ideas that are high quality, engaging, and accessible, but also challenging and thought provoking. The work must have the ability to be presented online, and we are particularly interested in those that include a live participatory element. This, however, does not rule out proposals that are entirely digital, as long as it can be demonstrated that they are impactful and engaging. 

Artists are asked to respond to the broad theme of future sustainability, to be interpreted in whichever way they see fit. We welcome proposals that explore how we can address what we, as a society, have learned about our impact on the environment in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Artworks can be new commissions or the presentation or adaptation of existing works providing they fit the context and the brief. We welcome proposals which include an element of community engagement or participation either online, remotely, or in a way which follow social distancing measures and that could allow for participation of those that may not have access to the internet. Please ensure this is detailed in your proposal, if applicable.

ELIGIBILITY

As this project will primarily be delivered online, it is open to artists and individuals worldwide, provided that the brief is properly considered and met. 

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

As specified, the work must have the ability to be presented online in order to reach the largest audience possible. If you have an idea of how you might like to present this (i.e. using a particular platform), please state this in your application. The work will be hosted on the Festival’s website, and a dedicated web page will be provided for the project along with artist profile. The Festival team are currently working through options for presenting online content and will be able to advise further on this if your proposal is selected.  

The most important consideration is how any piece will work in the best way for an online audience with potential live participation. Please detail in your proposal how you would approach this challenge. 

If there is a participatory element, you must consider how you will ensure the safety of your participants. 

BUDGET

In total we will commission one piece of work with a budget of up to £1,000 (+VAT if applicable). 

The commission total is inclusive of all artist fees, material and/or additional software costs associated with the creation and engagement of the work, so your initial indicative budget will need to demonstrate this. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

The application is by online submission. Artists are welcome to submit more than one proposal. 

Shortlisted artists may be invited to undertake a short interview via Zoom or by phone so that the commissioning team can gain further details before the final selection is made. 

Due to timescales and limited capacity we may not be able to offer detailed feedback if your proposal is unsuccessful.

TIMELINE

Proposal deadline: Midday, Friday 10 July

Shortlisting: Week of 13 July

All applicants informed if shortlisted or not: Monday 20 July

Shortlisted proposals developed (if necessary): Friday 24 July

Shortlisted artists informed if commissioned or not: Friday 31 July

Event date: Friday 11 September

PROPOSALS

You will be asked to provide a biography and an expression of interest of around 750 words describing your proposal. 

You can upload a limited number of images, which can be visuals in support of your proposal and/or examples of previous work, including a short video.

You will be asked to upload an outline budget, which should include artist fees, material/software costs, consumables and equipment hires and/or purchases needed to realise the piece. 

Please ensure that all parts of the form are completed and a valid email address and phone number are provided, together with your website details. Please refer closely to the brief when filling in the form. 

ACCESS SUPPORT

We are committed to ensuring that all of our processes and projects are as accessible as possible. If you would like to receive the commissioning guidance in an alternative format, would like to request assistance with completing your application, or discuss submitting your proposal in a different format please contact: maddie@festivalofthrift.co.uk