The jury for Art in Public Space Tyrol 2023 (Jochen Becker, critic and curator, Berlin; Lisa Mazza, curator, Bolzano; and Esther Strauß, artist, Vienna), following the meeting of 6 October 2022, recommends the projects submitted by Richard Schwarz, Angela Anderson/Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic*, and Elena Romashka for realization. The three selected projects directly relate to the thematic open call ZEITENWENDE | TURN OF ERAS. They meet the competition criteria in manifold ways and undertake to address and provide new insights into current socio-political issues, such as climate change, the discrimination of women, or the war fought on European soil.

Tyrolean artist Richard Schwarz wants to “stop the time” with his project 5 nach 12 oder warum wir nicht bremsen können (5 past 12 or why we are unable to slow down).  On a specific day, throughout Tyrol, as many public clocks as possible are to be stopped at 5 past 12. By stopping the clocks for 12 hours the artist aims to create a framework encouraging us to examine how we deal with time, and raise the question what might be made possible if we (temporarily) stray from clock time. Hence, the communication processes in preparation of the project’s realization are of vital importance: Are we ready and willing to stop the clocks and, even if only for half a day, ring in a turn of eras? And what will the media’s and the public’s interpretation turn out to be?

Elena Romashko’s project Paper Resistance makes express reference to the consequences of the military aggression on Ukraine. A group of paper artists from Belarus will stay in Tyrol for one month to produce, in cooperation with local paper artists, paper cuttings from newspaper pages featuring images and texts that relate to the political situation in Eastern Europe. The group aims at exploring ways in which traditional artforms may alleviate suffering, strengthen solidarity, and provide a form of expression for both individual and group protest. In addition, the public in Tyrol is to be engaged into a discourse about the situation of political violence and ways in which traditional culture and art may reflect on it and oppose it.

Angela Anderson’s and Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic*’s permanent installation Hexenküche – Formerly Known As aims to alter the historical memory of the figure of the witch and thus the cultural significance of witch hunts in Europe, through the transformation of a specific physical location in Tyrol. Starting from the well-known fact, that after the persecution era the figure of the witch was banned into the realm of tales and legends, the project is based on extensive research on the so-called “Hexenkuchl” (Witches’ Kitchen) located in the Mühlauer Klamm north of Innsbruck, and on the feminist struggles for abortion rights in Tyrol and their resistive appropriation of the figure of the witch. At the “Hexenkuchl,” a multi-part visual and sculptural work will be installed, which, carefully embedded into Tyrolean day-to-day life, will encourage a critical investigation into witch-hunting and the related oppression and murdering of women.

ZEITENWENDE | TURN OF ERAS

2022 seems to be something of a watershed year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows the range of geopolitical and global economic implications an apparently regional war on European soil can have. The relative security in which the societies of Europe have weighed themselves in the past decades now appears to be approaching an end. In our interconnected world, it is evident that local conflicts inevitably have global consequences that are difficult to control. The famous metaphor of butterflies flapping their wings and so generating effects on the other side of the world is proving more relevant than ever. So, what can be done in the face of impending turmoil? And how can art respond to the current socio-political issues?

Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Tirol 2023 invites artists* to propose projects that deal with the current turn of eras and its possible effects on the region of Tyrol as a living space, but also convey developmental perspectives beyond the mainstream, so offering unusual food for thought for a better future.

Submission Deadline: 16.09.2022

You can find the data sheet for the submission here.

Since 2008, the funding program Art in Public Space has been carried out in cooperation between the State of Tyrol and the Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft (Tyrolean Artists’ Association), and financed by the State of Tyrol. For the year 2023, it is being announced for the third time under a thematic focus defined by the Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft, intended to bracket content for the formulation and the realization of the then chosen projects. The aim of the funding is to promote contemporary art and cultural projects in public space, so making the discussion of current social issues accessible to a broad public and opening up a dialogue on cultural, social and political issues. Art in Public Space aims to trigger discussions and become an integral part in the development of fresh perspectives.

In this context the conceivable artistic formats are unconstrained: permanent sculptural art projects, temporary interventions as well as participatory, performative and dialogical formats in public rural and urban spaces may be funded. Special attention will be paid to project submissions that are site-specific and explicitly consider mediation formats, as well as being inherently sustainable in their implementation. In order to reach the most diverse audience possible, the projects should enable synergies between artistic practice and everyday culture. In this sense, the venues of the projects may be as diverse as the projects themselves, offering opportunities to make art experienceable beyond the boundaries of cultural institutions.

FORMAL CRITERIA

• The call for proposals should serve as a starting point and bracketing of content for the project submitted.
• The projects must be realized in Tyrol, in public rural or urban areas, and must address resp. explicitly consider the specific conditions of the chosen location.
• The selected projects must be realized within the period March to November 2023.
• Following the award by the jury, the prerequisite for state funding is the submission of all necessary permissions for the project’s realization, as well as agreement from the authorities responsible for the location(s) of the project submitted.
• The following will be excluded from funding: funding in retrospect or the acquisition of an already realized artwork, classical “Kunst am Bau” (Art in Architecture) projects, publications that do not form part of a project, and events in public space such as concerts or theatre productions with no contextual or content-related link to the funding action.

TARGET GROUP
International artists*, artist collectives and curators* working in the field of contemporary visual art are eligible to apply.

ENDOWMENT
In 2023, the action Art in Public Space will be endowed with EUR 80,000 by the State of Tyrol. The amount of state funding for the projects can, according to the recommendation of the jury, amount up to 100% of the total eligible costs. From among the projects submitted, up to three projects will be invited for realization.

JURY
Three independent, expert jurors appointed by both the State of Tyrol and the Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft will choose from among the submitted projects and develop a proposition for funding. The final decision on funding will be made by the member of the Tyrolean Regional Government responsible for cultural affairs.

MEMBERS OF THE JURY
Jochen Becker
Lisa Mazza
Esther Strauß

SUBMISSION DOCUMENTS
Please send submissions, marked “Re: Kunst im öffentlichen Raum 2023“, exclusively via email to kultur@tirol.gv.at:

• • Detailed project description including artistic mediation formats (max. 8 pages, DIN A4): text, visualization in the form of sketches, renderings or photos of mod-els.
  • Plans of costing and financing (material and production costs, costs of travel and accommodation, fees, research spending, cost of assistance with production on site, cost of technical realization, erection and dismantling and/or maintenance, mediation formats, and project-related forms of communication)
  • Timetable for the realization of the project
  • Completed data sheet (see www.koer-tirol.at)
  • Information about the submitter(s) of the project
  • Documentation of previous artistic activity

ANNOUNCEMENT OF JURY DECISION
Expected mid October 2022

LEGAL BASIS
Submission of an application does not lead to any legal claim to funding. The jury’s decision is final. Granting of funds and the handling of the funding procedure will be administered by the State of Tyrol within the context of currently valid subsidy guidelines. The realization of subsidized projects must occur in accordance with the project time plan.
Information regarding project calculation: services on the artist’s own part can be listed in the calculation as part of the overall costs, up to an hourly rate of max. EUR 30 and up to 30 % of the total cost, in accordance with the list of services for the action “Art in Public Space”. This directive applies only to funding procedures in the context of the action “Art in Public Space”.
The entrant declares him- or herself in agreement with the publication of his/her name and also of any submitted illustrative material, sketches or other visualizations e.g. for media reports or on the State of Tyrol’s homepage and the homepage www.koer-tirol.at.

PLEASE NOTE
Sensitivity to gender issues and social exclusion mechanisms is expected in the conception and realization of the project.
Barrier-free access to the respective project should already be considered in the concept.

CONTACT
Please send any questions to Cornelia Reinisch-Hofmann at koer-tirol@kuenstlerschaft.at. She will be monitoring the selected projects regarding issues of curatorial content as well as technical production.
The project beneficiary will be responsible for production assistance and technical implementation on site.