Living in Queerantine – Expressions of Interest
Nocturnal X Midsumma Lunar New Year Disco by Tanya McCulloch
EOIs for Queerantine have now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted their interest. We are carefully going through all of the applications (we got a lot which is great!), we will be in contact with applicants shortly to discuss results.
Living in the Queerantine – Expressions of Interest
As a community we have come from isolation, many of us feeling alone, disconnected and distant even in a crowded room. Often we combat that by making a strong sense of community, finding places and spaces to take over, constructing chosen families. In events such as Midsumma Carnival and Midsumma Pride March, we see all of these communities and groups come together and announce proudly “We are not alone, we are queer and we are here”.
Due to the recent state of the world, we find ourselves once again being physically isolated, separated from our spaces and communities, potentially better equipped and supported than in our younger years but still distant. Our communities have always been quick to adapt to new technologies and systems to get around restrictions society has pushed on us. Our next Midsumma Festival may not be until January 2021, but we are still here and want to provide support and a space to share artistic ideas that artists have developed in response to this time of enforced seclusion.
One of Midsumma’s leading values is “We promote, develop and celebrate queer arts and culture. We bring audiences and artists together.” As part of our year-round development work, we would like to act as a catalyst for the creation of some new small works of art and showcase them through the digital ‘stage’ of our Midsumma website.
Stereotypically, people perceive ‘Queerness’ as a performative element, being as bright, colourful and energetic. But there are so many more layers to Queerness and our artistic expression, who we are, and what we are outside of community and interpersonal relationships.
Quick Response Commissions
Through this EOI process, we will be selecting up to 10 artistic projects to receive up to $1,000 each to create a new piece of art that can engage through Midsumma’s online channels.
The EOI opens Friday 17 April, and will close Sunday 3 May at 11:59pm.
- Successful Applicants notified week of 4 May.
- Artistic works to be ready for sharing on 1 June.
- Works could be shared throughout June and July, via eNews, blog posts and social comms. This schedule will be locked down after successful participants are confirmed.
Please read through the information and express your interest by completing the form below. You will be sent an email receipt of your application upon successfully submitting the form.
- Digital art
- Visual art
- Video recording of performance art / spoken word / music / any other performance styles that lend themselves well to digital presentation.
- Written text (Story, Poem, visual narratives).
- Perhaps even an online workshop/words and ideas chat with a Q&A about art and queerness during this time.
- Ultimately it could be anything creative. We just need the ability to host the content in a digital forum on Midsumma’s available communication channels for the safety of audiences and artists. If you think this could be an issue but you have a solution please get in contact. We want to work with you to make this work.
Please Note
The creation of this artwork should not compromise the safety of you or those around you. Please follow the restrictions outlined by the government in your area, and practice safe social distancing.
Ultimately you can supply ANYTHING creative. We just the need the ability to host the content in a digital forum on Midsumma’s available communication channels for the safety of audiences and artists. If you think this could be an issue but you have a solution please get in contact, we want to work with you to make this work.
- New artwork must be able to be created and showcased before June 30, 2020.
- Should explore the concepts of queerness in some sort of physical or emotional isolation/ private.
- This could be an artistic work in response to this time of disruption, but submissions are not restricted to this theme.
- If the content is imagery, it should be supplied in high resolution.
- We can embed Youtube, Vimeo links etc.
- We can also work with you if the work is better suited for our social media channels.
- If you have any concerns about us being able to host your work, please indicate that in the EOI process so we can chat through alternatives.
The work that you make from this commission will belong to you. As part of the process we will keep the right to host your awesome work on our platforms, but beyond that it is all yours to grow, develop or re-present elsewhere. We will just ask for two months (from publication) of exclusivity and then you will be able to take the work with you to other mediums if you want! We simply ask that you acknowledge Midsumma as a supporter of your work.
We will also ask for all of your social media handles, website and appropriate links, so we can tag you when we share your work.
Firstly, the new artwork must be able to be created and showcased before June 30, 2020. It should explore the concepts of Queerness in some sort of physical or emotional isolation.
This could be an artistic work in response to this time of crisis, but submissions are not restricted to this theme.
For our website and platforms:
- If the content is imagery, it should be as high resolution as possible.
- We can embed YouTube, Vimeo links etc.
- We can also work with you if the work is better suited through our social media channels i.e streaming or live works.
If you have any concerns about us being able to host your work, please indicate it in the EOI process so we can chat through alternatives.
Please Note
If you would like to use this opportunity to start working on a larger project, perhaps for Midsumma 2021, that is also totally fine, we just need an initial outcome for June 2020. Just reference this in your EOI.
For any questions or queries about this process please feel free to contact [email protected].
