We are pleased to announce an Open Call for two UK-based artists, as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council project, Tinnitus, Auditory Knowledge and the Arts. The research project is co-ordinated by Dr. Marie Thompson (Open University) and Dr. Patrick Farmer (Oxford Brookes University), and supported by the British Tinnitus Association. As part of the project, we will be hosting an exhibition in October 2021, in partnership with OVADA, Oxford.

The aim of Tinnitus, Auditory Knowledge and the Arts is to interrogate the relationship between tinnitus and the creative arts. The project proposes that the arts may serve a key role in developing alternative methods, frameworks and terminologies that can help to create new mediating encounters with the diverse ways in which tinnitus is experienced by listeners. 

The exhibition is an opportunity to critically examine how both tinnitus and ‘auraldiversity’ can inform artistic, curatorial and exhibition practice. Working closely with the project team, artists will explore processes which interrogate how the diverse and unpredictable nature of tinnitus can inform curatorial and exhibition practice, as well as the commissioned artwork itself.  

Applicants are invited to send statements outlining their interest in working around the key themes of the project, taking into consideration, for example, the complexities of tinnitus as part of the difficulties and limitations of its representation and depiction. We are particularly interested in receiving responses from artists with experiences of tinnitus. This opportunity is open to artists working in any media. Applicants can be at any stage of their career but must have some experience of creating artwork/installations for public display, in response to a brief. 

Budget

The two successful artists will each receive an Artist fee of £2000. With additional fees available for material costs, travel to and from Oxford and accommodation for site visits and install/take down. The appointed artists will be contracted on a freelance basis, responsible for all Tax and National Insurance contributions and will be paid upon invoice.

The deadline for the Open Call for artists is 20th December 2020, 9pm. 

The application should include:

• A 200-word statement  outlining your interest on working with tinnitus.
• A 200-word artist statement about your current practice, including your approach to creating new work and example(s) of working collaboratively on similarly funded projects.
• A current Artist CV. 
• Two examples of relevant work. Max size 1mb per image, doc/pdf if text, mp3s or weblinks if sound files. 
• Link to website.

Please send these sections as one file attachment (doc/pdf) saved under your name, using the subject line ‘tinnitus application’.

Please send applications, or questions about the brief, to: tinnitusopencall@ovada.org.uk

Please note we do not expect a proposal for an artwork. We anticipate that this will be developed at a later stage once you have had a chance to engage with the project team. Instead we wish to hear about the processes that you would possibly undertake in order to respond sensitively to the brief and your approaches to working with this subject matter or the project in general.

Selection Process

The Artists will be shortlisted using the following criteria:

• Experience of exhibiting or creating ambitious and/or site-specific work.
• Experience of partnership working within and beyond the arts sector.
• Experience of managing budgets and working to deadlines.
• An understanding or lived experience of tinnitus or a willingness to engage with members of the tinnitus community. 

Shortlisted artists will be invited to discuss their ideas further at an interview with the project team. This will be held online w/c 18^th Jan, 2021.   

Due to the large number of projected submissions, we regret that we cannot guarantee feedback on individual proposals.

We aim to appoint artists by the end of January 2021. The selected artists will attend regular online meetings with the project team to discuss, develop and finalise ideas. Site-visits at OVADA will be accommodated, as required. Work must be completed and available for installation by the end of September 2021, ready for the exhibition in October 2021. 

For more information, please visit: www.open.ac.uk/blogs/tinnitus 

For a floorplan/images of the exhibition space and access to OVADA’s Virtual Gallery visit:

www.ovada.org.uk/warehouse
www.ovada.org.uk/virtual-exhibitions

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class, independent researchers in a wide range of subjects: history, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, languages, design, heritage, area studies, the creative and performing arts, and much more. This financial year the AHRC will spend approximately £98 million to fund research and postgraduate training, in collaboration with a number of partners. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits and contributes to the economic success of the UK but also to the culture and welfare of societies around the globe.

Visit the AHRC website at: ahrc.ukri.org, on Twitter at @ahrcpress, and on Facebook search for the Arts and Humanities Research Council, or Instagram at @ahrcpress.