An open call for creative responses that explore and playfully provoke notions of migration, belonging and home

WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE? is a development of b-side’s work on the Isle of Portland exploring our relationship to the place and people we work with: residents, artists and multi-disciplinary partners.

FEE: £1,600 +  up to £400 travel and accommodation

Deadline: Midnight 30 June 2022

This opportunity is for someone living anywhere in the UK with lived experience of displacement or forced migration. There is a related commission opportunity for an artist resident on the Isle of Portland HERE.

WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE? is a development of b-side’s work on the Isle of Portland exploring our relationship to the place and people we work with: residents, artists and multi-disciplinary partners.

b-side is a locally loved and nationally recognised arts organisation based on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. London based Counterpoints Arts are a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. Together, we are inviting creative responses to the question: Who Do We Think We Are?

We are inviting visual artists, poets, composers, storytellers, comedians, musicians and/or researchers to dive into the provocation:  Who Do We Think We Are?  We invite you to reflect, question, provoke, explore, discuss, share, suggest or speak out on the theme from your own perspective to be presented at the b-side festival Assemblage event – a playful forum for creative provocations and discussion.
We welcome proposals for performance, presentations, works in progress or interventions made during the festival. Applicants will be offered support to deliver their creative responses by a member of the b-side and/or the Counterpoints Arts team.

Key dates

Deadline for applications: Thursday June 30th 2022, Midnight

Online interviews: Week beginning Monday 18th July 2022.

Notification of outcome by: Friday 22nd July 2022, 5pm.

Making Creative Response: July and August 2022.

Sharing Creative Response: 8th – 11th September 2022.

Reflecting and Moving Forward conversation: October 2022.

What is Who Do We Think We Are?

WDWTWA? is a development of b-side’s work on Portland exploring our relationship to the place and people we work with: residents, artists and multi-disciplinary partners.

Artists have made work on the theme of belonging and home by talking with, listening, and collaborating with Portland residents about their shared relationship to the island and places from their past.

We want to widen the lens and extend the conversation further. We want to explore notions of belonging, displacement, and thoughts on migration – historically and currently. We’d like to hear from new voices, adding richness and variety, challenge, and provocation to the conversation. For this opportunity, creative responses do not need to respond to the Isle of Portland.

We believe that it’s in making room and listening that we are all enabled to broaden our understanding of how each of us interacts with places and ultimately with a goal to share places equitably.

WDWTWA? is also a continuation of our work with our friends at Counterpoints Arts, who we have collaborated over the last 5 years. Take a look at the b-side and Counterpoints Arts websites to get a feel of the work we commission and produce. And if you would like to discuss your idea before submitting, contact sally@b-side.org.uk

How will I be supported?

• Team members from b-side and / or Counterpoints Arts will act as a critical friend.
• Your work will be in the b-side festival programme which is marketed nationally and internationally on print and online and there is an opportunity for your work to exist online.
• We can also help broker any connections you wish to make with members of the Portland community, if this is appropriate and useful to your work.

How to Apply

Applications must be made online via CuratorSpace

Please complete the online application form with the following information:

• Your contact details
• A detailed description of your idea, stating how you would respond to the brief – including details of your method and where you imagine your Creative Response taking place (for example: online, in print, live… etc.) [700 words or 5.5-minute video / audio recording maximum]
• Details of previous relevant experience (where you might have delivered similar work or worked in a similar way / method) [500 words or 4-minute video / audio recording maximum]
• Confirmation that you are available to take part in b-side festival (8th – 11th September 2022)
• Images or weblinks illustrating your idea and / or previous work [10 images / weblinks maximum]

Applying in another format.

As well as written applications, we can accept audio and video applications too. If you want to submit a proposal via video or audio, please record your video / audio response, save it on YouTube / Vimeo / Google Drive / Dropbox and then add the link to the video within the CuratorSpace form (where the text response would usually go).

If CuratorSpace isn’t accessible to you, please contact Molly: molly@b-side.org.uk and we will work to provide a format that works for you.

Additional information on b-side

b-side is an internationally recognised and locally loved arts organisation that both embodies and enriches its place of origin - the Isle of Portland in Dorset. This island is the beating heart that inspires b-side’s work, but our projects and opportunities extend all over Dorset and beyond.

Every two years, we produce the b-side festival, which brings new, unique art to local audiences and visitors alike, sharing incredible stories about and with the Isle of Portland, as well as the rest of the world. We work with and commission artists who are as excited by the bigger picture as the smallest detail.

b-side is run by a collaborative team of artists, producers and curators with experience in visual arts, live art, performance, social practice, heritage, queer arts practice, environment and arts education.

Common Lands is the over-arching theme for b-side’s programme of work over the next 3 years – we work with the island of Portland as a microcosm to explore relationships to and with land: biodiversity, climate, migration, land use, ownership and access.

We invite artists, residents, and researchers to create unique and inventive projects inspired by the themes of ‘people’ and ‘place’. We host big discussions on topics that affect us both locally and globally and create art that exists in unusual and unexpected places. 
b-side works with artists and communities to question and explore these interwoven themes in relation to and in response to the site and context of Portland and its relationship to people and places elsewhere, acknowledging our shifting patterns of movement.

We do this through three strands of work:

This Land - focusing on heritage and environment.

Who Do We Think We Are? - focusing on people and migration.

That Other.Place - focusing on digital lands and alternative identities

Visit our website to find out more: www.b-side.org.uk

Additional Information on Counterpoints Arts

Counterpoints Arts is a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. Our mission is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognized and welcomed within British arts, history and culture.

Central to our mission is our belief that arts can inspire social change and enhance inclusion & cultural integration of refugees & migrants.

We work across all art forms and collaborate with a range of people and partners, including artists, arts/cultural and educational organisations and civil society activists. We are based in Hoxton, London working nationally and internationally.

Visit the Counterpoints Arts website to find out more: https://counterpointsarts.org.uk/