The Romanian Artists Union launches an open call for exhibition spaces. Transparency or just a front? (Bucharest, Romania)
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Text de Xandra Popescu și Larisa Crunțeanu
Revenim cu informații în privința situației Atelier 35. În urma dezbaterii publice vis a vis de evacuarea Atelier 35, Uniunea Artiștilor Plastici din România a decis transparentizarea procesului de colaborare cu colective artistice auto-organizate.
Astfel, UAPR lansează un concurs de proiecte prin care pune la dispoziție 6 spații în București: Centrul Artelor Vizuale – Multimedia Center, Galeria Şelari 13, Galeria Orizont [subsol], Galeria CFP – Tipografia, Galeria CFP – Arthale, Galeria Galla [subsol]. Data limită pentru depunerea dosarelor este 20 ianuarie, anunțarea rezultatelor având loc pe 23.01.2015.
Având în vedere faptul că UAPR dorește să colaboreze cu lucrători independenți din sectorul artistic și colective artistice auto-gestionate – ai căror membri nu fac neapărat parte din structurile sale – considerăm că ar fi important ca juriul să includă persoane care au experiență în domeniul autogestionării și fac parte din scena de artă independentă.Având în vedere faptul că UAPR are rolul de a proteja condiția din ce în ce mai precară a lucrătorilor din domeniul artei ar fi indicat ca procesul de jurizare ar trebui să țină cont de conduita etică a aplicanților- în special în raport cu munca voluntarilor. În acest sens recomandăm ghidul conceput de organizația Carrot Workers: Surviving Internships – A Counter Guide to Surviving Internships in the Art Word, paginile 44-49
Recapitulând, credem că printre principiile de jurizare ar trebui să se numere următoarele criterii:- capacitatea demonstrată de a gestiona și compensa munca voluntarilor
– o etică a muncii bazată pe echitate, transparență și responsabilitate colectivă
– proiecte care reflectă asupra condițiilor sociale și politice ale societății actuale
– proiecte ce produc lucrări noi, cu o atenție pentru condițiile de producere a acestora
– proiecte care adresează contextul local – românesc – și cel specific – București
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Xandra Popescu and Larisa Crunțeanu. English translation, editing by Corina L. Apostol
We have more information on the situation of Atelier 35. After a public debate on the possible evacuation of Atelier 35, the Romanian Union of Visual Artists has decided to make the process of collaboration with self-organized artistic collectives more transparent. Consequently, the Union has launched a competition for projects for the following six spaces in Bucharest: The Center for Visual Arts – Multimedia Center, the Gallery Şelari 13, the Gallery Orizont (basement), the Gallery CFP – Tipography, the Gallery CFP – Arthale, the Gallery Galla (basement). The deadline for project proposals is January 20th. The results will be announced on January 23rd, 2015.
http://uap.ro/concurs-de-proiecte-2015/
The team of Atelier 35 has received numerous verbal assurances from the Union’s management that they will be allowed to complete their already planned projects in the space at Șelari 13. We support the Union’s decision to make transparent its collaborations with artistic collectives. At the same time, we believe it is not fair that the management has included on its list spaces that already have programming planned for the near future. Also, given the fact that programming for a project space is a complex process, we recommend that the deadline be extended until the end of February and that the selected projects should begin at least 2 months after the results will be announced (May 2015).
We also recommend that the Union should further clarify the call for projects by specifying the working conditions, the rights and obligations of each party involved.
Taking into account that the Union desires to collaborate with independent art workers and self-organized artistic collectives – who are not necessarily part of this organization – we consider it important that the selection committee should include representatives from the independent art scene in Romania. Also given the fact that the Union has a mission to protect the increasingly precarious situation of art workers, the judging of the applications should take into consideration the ethical conduit of the applications – especially in what concerns volunteer work. Related to this we recommend the guide conceived by the CarrotWorkers Collective: Surviving Internships – A Counter Guide to Surviving Internships in the Art Word, pages 44-49.
To summarize, we believe that the following criteria should guide the jury process for the open call:
- the ability to manage and fairly compensate the work of volunteers in art spaces
- a work ethic based on equality, transparency and collective responsibility
- projects should reflect on social and political issues in contemporary society
- projects should produce new works; special attention should be paid and support given for producing these works
- projects should engage with the local context in Romania and the specific context of Bucharest
Atelier 35 takes its name after an institutional network founded by the Romanian Union of Artists in 1969 with art spaces in major cities, dedicated to experimental art and to artists at the beginning of their career; the number 35 suggests the conventional age limit of youth. Currently Atelier 35 in Bucharest is powered by Larisa Crunțeanu and Xandra Popescu.
In November 2014, Atelier 35 was threatened to be evacuated from its location on Șelari 13. Read more: Atelier 35 Evacuated by the Romanian Artists’ Union to Make Room for Pavilion and The Case of Atelier 35
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