After meeting on 18 October 2023, the jury of Art in Public Space Tyrol 2024, consisting of Alfredo Barsuglia (artist, Vienna), Carmen Brucic (artist, Tyrol) and Neda Hosseinyar (artist, art educator & cultural worker, Vienna), recommends the three projects xeno-tékton by Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl & Benjamin Ennemoser, We are the Asteroid by Thomas Medicus, and Automat Sospeso by Leopold Kessler for realization. The three selected projects relate directly to the 2024 theme SPACES OF SOLIDARITY and link it to various current socio-political issues.

The project xeno-tékton by Ingrid Mayrhofer-Hufnagl & Benjamin Ennemoser opens up new perspectives on climate change and provides a blueprint for a possible course of action and innovative strategies. The artists expand our notion of community and co-operation and present a futuristic vision of human and non-human coexistence, thus revealing fresh paths for a future based on solidarity.

The installation We are the Asteroid submitted by Thomas Medicus convinced the jury with its artistic approach to the current climate and biodiversity crisis in relation to the competition’s annual theme SPACES OF SOLIDARITY. In his installation, the artist refers to the lack of solidarity between humankind, the environment, nature, and future generations. The “memorial to destruction” embodied by this art installation aims to provoke changes in our ideas and actions relating to nature.

Automat Sospeso by Leopold Kessler is characterised by a pointed approach to the concept of solidarity – solidarity with the unknown. Not a grand gesture, but an intimate act that renegotiates solidarity as a personal attitude to life: Is someone’s generosity being exploited, or is it reaching someone who needs it most? The project is based on the Neapolitan principle of “caffè sospeso”: a guest pays for an extra coffee in a café, which is noted down. The coffee is then served free on request to someone who cannot afford to pay.

“What was valuable in the concept of solidarity was the framework of worldwide responsibility, breaking down the segregation of human pains from one another. What could retain this value is transcending solidarity to partnership (…).”
‘A critique of solidarity’ by Yassin al-Hay Saleh

There are probably very few concepts in art that are mentioned so frequently but analysed so rarely in depth than the notion of solidarity. But can solidarity be more than representative? Global crises, burgeoning class struggles and rising populism are leading increasingly to individual distribution struggles. It seems even more imperative to turn to a solidarity that looks outwards, tackling not only the known but also the unknown. Art may become a catalyst for this.
Art in Public Space Tyrol 2024 invites artists, artists’ collectives and curators to propose projects that take the concept of solidarity further, making the Tyrol into a creative living space that accepts and welcomes marginalised groups and alternative perspectives.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Since 2008, the funding program Art in Public Space has been implemented 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 2024, it is being announced for the fourth time under a thematic focus defined by the Tiroler Künstler:innenschaft; a focus aimed at bracketing content during the writing of concepts and implementation of the chosen projects. The funding provision seeks to promote contemporary art and cultural projects in public space, so making the discussion of current social issues accessible to a broad public and initiating dialogue on cultural, social and political topics. The intention of Art in Public Space is to trigger discussions and play an integral role in the development of fresh perspectives.

In this context, there are no limits to the artistic formats possible: funding may be granted for permanent sculptural art projects, temporary interventions as well as participatory, performative and dialogical formats in public rural and urban spaces. Special attention will be paid to project submissions that are site-specific and employ inherently communicative formats, as well as sustainability in their implementation. In order to reach an audience that is as diverse as possible, the projects should represent a synergy between artistic practice and everyday culture. In this spirit, the projected venues 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 the Tyrol, in public rural or urban areas, and must address the specific conditions of the chosen location.
• It must be possible to implement the selected projects within the period March to November 2024.
• Following selection by the jury, the prerequisite for state funding is the submission of every necessary permit for the project’s realization, as well as agreement from the municipal or parish authorities responsible for the location(s) of the project submitted.
• The following will be excluded: funding in retrospect or the acquisition of an already realized artwork, classic “Percent for Art” projects, publications that do not form part of a project, and events in public space such as concerts or theatre productions with no link in content to the funding program.

TARGET GROUP
The call for tenders is directed at international artists, artist collectives and curators working in the field of contemporary visual art. They must be resident in the European Economic Area or the European Free Trade Association.

ENDOWMENT
In 2024, the State of Tyrol’s program Art in Public Space will be endowed with EUR 80,000,-. The sum of state funding for the projects recommended for implementation can, according to the jury’s recommendations, amount to 100% of the total eligible costs. Two to three projects will be invited for realization from among the projects submitted.

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 State Parliament responsible for cultural affairs.

MEMBERS OF THE JURY
Alfredo Barsuglia (Artist, Vienna)
Carmen Brucic (Artist, Tyrol)
Neda Hosseinyar (Artist, Art Educator & Cultural Worker, Vienna)

Please send submissions, marked “Re: Kunst im öffentlichen Raum 2024“, by email only to kultur@tirol.gv.at:

• Detailed project description including creative communication formats (max. 8 pages, DIN A4): text, visualization in the form of sketches, renderings or photos of models.
• Costing and financing plan (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, communication formats, and project-related forms of communication. It will not be possible to cover a daily allowance and catering costs.)
• A timetable for the project’s realization
• Completed data sheet
• Information about the submitter(s) of the project
• Documentation of artistic activities to date

SUBMISSION DEADLINE
10.09.2023

ANNOUNCEMENT OF JURY DECISION
Expected End of October 2023

BASIS IN LAW
Submission of an application will not result in a 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 sponsored projects must take place in accordance with the projected time plan.
Information on project costing: The artist’s own services can be listed in the calculation as part of the overall costs, at an hourly rate in accordance with the Fair-Pay guidelines in Austria (https://www.kuenstlerschaft.at/kulturpolitik-paytheartistnow/), and corresponding to 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 themselves in agreement with the publication of their 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 taken into account in the concept.

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