Artist Call Out – Fragments of Place at Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival

We would like to commission six early career artists to produce site referential work at Dinefwr Park in Llandeilo as part of the Beyond the Border – Wales’ International Storytelling festival.

Artist Fee: £800 to include travel and expenses
Additional materials Budget: £200
Free one-day entry to the Beyond the Border Festival

Selectors:
Naomi Wilds – Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival
Alison Neighbour – Artist
Kathryn Campbell – National Trust
Holly Dwyer – National Trust
Cathy Boyce – Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival

The commission:

Artists are invited to respond to the Beyond the Border Festival theme of ‘’Reimagining, Reawakening’’ and the title Fragments of Place.

Dinefwr is a microcosm of Welsh heritage and natural history, the only parkland National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Wales and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It offers a rich sensory playground for artists and audiences to explore past, present and create an exciting future, together.

Your proposal should consider ways in which your artistic intervention can help the Beyond the Border Festival audience to reflect upon the unique nature and sensitivity of the Dinefwr Parkland location; to notice and appreciate small moments in their environment and move through the site with awe and care.

Working within an ecologically sensitive landscape presents particular challenges and considerations. We are looking for a lo-tech, light touch and environmentally aware approach that responds to the sensitivity of the SSSI status of the site and treats this as an artistic provocation rather than a limitation. Additional information about the site is available on request if required.

The work can be in any medium including performance, audio and digital as well as sculpture, drawing or other media. A sense of ephemerality is welcome and careful consideration of the requirements of working on a Greenfield and SSSI site will need to be integral to your proposal.
Any equipment you require to execute the artwork or show it onsite should be included in your materials budget, and anything that forms part of your display onsite needs to be weatherproof.

The Festival and Site teams can assist with appropriate placement.

The work will be viewed by festival audiences on their journey through the site, perhaps coming to look specifically at your artwork, perhaps encountering it by chance, perhaps taking part in a story walk that leads them past it. We invite you to consider how you would like the audience to encounter your work.

We have selected a number of possible site locations and you are invited to pitch for one or more spaces situated through the Church Woods and the Castle Woods at NT Dinefwr. Images of these sites are available here.

Please submit:

• A short (one side of A4) proposal including the nature of the work you would like to make, and a brief idea of how you would respond to the provocations and guidelines above. We’re not asking for a final proposal here, rather an insight into your thinking process and initial thoughts – we understand you will want to finalise your proposal following commission and in-depth time onsite. You are welcome to use the A4 space to draw rather than write if this is a better mode of expression for you.

• Up to 4 images or links to previous relevant work.

• Your name and contact details

• A short (100 words max) biography/CV

OR:

A video or audio* file of up to 5 minutes in length telling us about your practice and experience and your proposed response to the callout
*mpg/mp3/youtube/vimeo/soundcloud

Send to: cathyboyce@beyondtheborder.com

Deadline: 1 June 12 noon

We will let you know if you have been successful by: 10 June

Installation: week of 28 June 2021

Site visits:

1. Following confirmation of a successful application you will be invited to visit the site in advance of developing your work
2. You will need to be on site to install your work
3. You be required to de-install your work and remove any physical materials

Support and mentoring:

Mentoring and support will be available to commissioned artists which will include:

· Tour of the Dinefwr site
· Supported site visits
· Mentoring through the commissioning process including partnership working with NT Dinefwr and the Wildlife Trust and working within a set of specific environmental guidelines

Insurance: You will be required to provide Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance *

*Annual cover is available from A-n artists network for £38

Supported by The Ashley Family Foundation