Call for Craft Practitioners

Call for Craft Practitioners

EU Craft Hub: Maker Exchange Residencies
Closing Date: 30th June 2021

 

The EU Craft Hub: Maker Exchange Residencies are a central part of the newly funded EU Craft Hub project which will showcase the wealth of European Craft practice and address sector challenges through artist residencies, training workshops, exhibitions, conferences and a European Festival of Craft. The project will run over three years and includes nine European partners with Carlow County Council as the Lead Partner.

The aims and objectives of the EU Craft Hub programme are:

• To build capacity for existing and future craft practitioners by creating new professional opportunities, stimulate the creation of new works, increase and interconnect knowledge on craft making skills and thereby pushing the boundaries of Craft making processes through new experimental ways of making,
• To safeguard Craft knowledge, process, skills through training and education materials, and the digital collection of all knowledge,
• To develop audiences for Craft by creating awareness and understanding for Craft practices and the works of Craft practitioners.

 

CALL FOR CRAFT PRACTITIONERS

 

Context: EU funded Creative Europe aims to foster the professional development of creative careers and their work cross borders and to reach new European audiences and develop innovative artistic models designed to help strengthen and sustain the arts and cultural sectors here in Ireland.

Covid 19: Covid-19 has fundamentally altered the pathway for creativity and culture in a way that may not see a return to normal levels of work for some time which has altered the opportunities available to craft practitioners. This re-imagined residency programme offers an opportunity to give craft practitioners the space and time to reflect on how they might test new ideas, research new approaches and make work in a different way, while relating to and supported by peer practitioners, advisors and mentors. The residency programme in 2021 will be Virtual and 2022 be physical.

The residency objectives are:

• To create a developmental / advisory framework to support participating craft practitioners
• To create a peer network, discussion and exchange forum for participating crafts practitioners
• To showcase participating crafts practitioners, their work and their collaborations as part of this residency
• To share learnings and practice developments locally, nationally; and internationally
• To document and evaluate the process to inform future residencies

A key feature of the Craft Maker Residencies is the opportunity to increase the transnational mobility of Craft Practitioners within and beyond the partnership countries. Participant Craft Practitioners will engage in online workshops, discussion forums and a co-creation process with their peers and through online workshops develop skills that allow them to expand their scope, skills and knowledge for the creation of Craft. The residencies will contribute to capacity building of Craft professionals, by helping them to create expanded skills, develop (new) international networks and make them more engaged with local communities.

The following EU Craft Hub partners will organize physical residencies, workshops and provide facilities for the co-creation activities:

• Carlow County Council: Co-creation , Wood Turning , Jewellery , ceramic , glass , textiles
• University of Wales Trinity Saint David Royal Charter: glass, ceramic, jewellery and textile making, involving 3D CAD/printing, CNC milling, laser cutting, digital fabric printing techniques
• Designskolen Kolding: analogue and digital knitting, weaving & screen printing; metal, leather, fur and wood processing (etc.)
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa: glass studio and ceramics studio (with wood firing capability)
• Glasmalerei Peters: stained glass and glass technology usage
• Materahub: cooperation with the Open Design School & various local laboratories to incorporate facilities and machinery for e.g. artisan wood processing, ceramics and 3D printing and clay usage
• OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University: Aesthetics of Materiality. Experimental and digital use of material and techniques in a design thinking context of ceramics, metal, textile and wood

Craft Participants who have been selected for the Maker Exchange Residencies will have the opportunity to participate in all the programme activities of the Craft Hub which includes:

• Work created during the residencies added to the Digital Repository which will capture the creation processes, skills and the narrative behind the work
• Work created during the residencies added to the Materials Library which will be a searchable and openly available resource database to foster craft knowledge and the creation of training and education materials for new craft professionals.
• Works created during the residencies will go forward for selection for the EU Craft Hub Exhibitions which will be held in the different partner cities displaying works by Craft practitioners from across Europe to a wide public audience.
• Craft practitioners participating in the residencies will also be invited to attend the closing Conference to foster the development of networks for craft professionals. The closing Conference will coincide with the final exhibition and the Festival of Craft.

 

Residency 1

Residency 2

7 Day Residency
When: Qtr 1 & 2 – 2022

30 PLACES (MIN. 5 PER LOCATION)

Each EU Craft Hub partner will host 4-6 craft practitioners in 6 locations to participate in a 7-day residency programme to include a materials budget.

Hosted by:

• Carlow County Council
• UWTSD
• Designskolen Kolding
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa
• Glasmalerei Peters
• Materahub

Residency 3

14 Day Residency
When: Qtr 3 & 4 – 2022

15 PLACES (MAX. 3 PER LOCATION)

Group Selected from participants on Round 2 Residency.
Approx. 3 EU Craft Hub partners will host which may be selected from practitioners for residency 3. This stage of the residency will take the form of a high end collaborative working programme over a 14-day residency programme to include a materials budget.

 

Application Process and Key Criteria

PLEASE NOTE: Craft Participants for the first round of Maker Exchange Residencies will be recruited through this open call.

EU Craft Hub selectors reserve the right to select participants for one residency or dependant on the standard of applicants, selection may be recommended for further longer-term residencies as outlined below:

Carlow County Council will assign the successful Craft Practitioners to the residencies in the partner countries.

Residency Dates: The residencies will take place between 2021 and 2022, with the first residency being organised virtually. The dates for the subsequent Residencies will be confirmed once Government restrictions in each of the participating countries allows.

The indicate dates for residencies are as follows and number of places:

Language: The language used for the Residencies is English.

Target Group: The main target group of the Maker Residencies are Craft Practitioners from all craft disciplines, who will participate in the residencies, create new craftworks, build networks and engage in CPD training.

Selection Panel: Applications will be assessed by an independent panel comprising of Carlow County Council, project partners, an Independent Craft/Design Professional and a representative of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.

Craft Practitioners: In this context Craft Practitioners are professionals with a career in Craft making, that need tools to develop and refresh their Craft making skills to increase self-expression and self-efficacy.

Costs: All costs associated with the Residencies will be covered by the EU Craft Hub project and include:

• Travel, accommodation and subsistence (where required)
• Fee for social media content creation (where required)
• Materials (where required)

 

Assessment Criteria

The following criteria will be used to evaluate applications:

Craft Professional (25%)

Proven track record of commitment to craft including an up-to-date CV (max 3 pages) and supporting material (4 images).

CPD Opportunity (25%)

Ability to demonstrate how CPD training will contribute to your skills development and benefit your practise.

Audience Development (25%)

Ability to demonstrate how Audience Development will contribute to the growth and development of your practise. Applicants in their application should outline their audience development aspirations in terms of development in a 1-page document.

Personal Statement (25%)

Description on how the residency overall will contribute to your overall development as a Craft Maker.

 

APPLY NOW!