To all of those who responded to our third Open Call we extend a huge thank you. It was a great pleasure to spend time thinking through and discussing your proposals, and we are grateful for the time and attention you took in applying. It is always rewarding to read about what broad and compelling work is being done around the academy, and it gives us a valuable insight in to what topics and urgencies students are currently working and thinking with.
In this round the decision making process was a challenging one, and we had long discussions in order to come to a final selection. We appreciate the commitment and consideration given to the proposed topics and questions, and are happy that they provoked discussion amongst the board members. We always encourage those who were unsuccessful to join our feedback sessions, and, if suitable, to apply again next round, which will be in the Spring of 2023.
The following is an overview of the four new platforms that will be starting in September 2023, and the smaller website projects we will be supporting to carry out a portion of their proposed research. We’re very excited to see all of their work evolve, and reach a larger audience both within the academy and beyond it.
Crip the Curriculum
Run by Akash Sheshadri, Alcide, Harriet Foyster and Pernilla Manjula Philip, this platform seeks to challenge systemic ableism by re-thinking methods of creating, caring, thinking and communicating. By breaking down existing biases within individuals, the academy and society at large, they hope to inspire institutions and educational bodies to ensure they are fundamentally anti-ableist. They will question binary thinking, prioritise care over cure, and centre the fluid and reciprocal nature of caregiving and caretaking through workshops, guest lectures, discussions and collaborations.
Going Underground
Run by Musoke Nalwoga with Amal Alhaag in an advisory role, this platform asks how creative practitioners can contend with the violent logic of capitalism and neoliberalism, and the sense of powerlessness that they produce, by going underground. Through using the format of a festival they will invite an array of local artists, activists and curators to host discussions and run workshops. They will explore the position of the artist within art institutions, and ask questions such as: How do you refuse to institutionalise? How can you refuse the exploitative gallery model? And how you can do all of these things collectively?
Bread Oven
Led by Mila Landreau and Quirine Kennedy, this platform’s activities and research will centre around the Bread Oven that was built at the academy in 2019. As its caretakers they aim to make it part of the fabric of the school, and to create a welcoming and inclusive community around food and baking. As well as communal bread-baking, it will be a space for lectures, workshops and conversations around sustainable and ethical cooking, food design, and food anthropology.
Material Monopolies
Run by Monique Todd, Weronika Wojda and Rick Geene, this platform will explore the aesthetic categories of excess and minimalism as entry points to investigate the social and economic crisis that mark our contemporary moment. They will reflect on how im/material relationships figure in their creative and research practices, whilst inspiring an experimental environment for criticality and knowledge making. Their programme will combine talks, screenings, workshops and reading groups, guided by the work of Lauren Berlant, Sianne Ngai, Mia Georgis, Kodwo Eshun and others.
Vocal Opacities, led by S*an D. Henry-Smith
Speaking in Tongues, led by Furqat Palvan-Zade and Olga Korsun
Ceremony: Reaching a Scenery, led by Pam Virada and Natasha Linde Krebs