Open Call: Open Archive 3.0

During the residency, they will each create a new, autonomous media work that makes use of the open, digital collections of (one or more of) the three institutions. The selected makers will receive a grant (fee plus production budget) of €7,800. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 5pm on 25 February 2022.

Through the Open Archive project, the three institutes are opening up their collections for creative reuse. Inviting three makers for a residency in which artistic research and creative practice are central will provide fresh insights into the user-friendliness, usability and visibility of the public digital collections. In this way, the institutes hope to be able to better facilitate users and better support makers in the development of autonomous works of art.

Collections
Het Nieuwe Instituut manages one of the world’s largest architecture archives; the Sound and Vision collection contains more than a million hours of historical audio-visual materials; and the IISH collection (a library plus archival and audio-visual materials) has an emphasis on social movements. Growing portions of these collections are being made accessible under open licences and are available for creative reuse by third parties. View the collections online here: www.openbeelden.nl, zoeken.hetnieuweinstituut.nl and www.iisg.amsterdam

Working period
Open Archive offers three residencies for the period from March to October 2022, a timespan that allows space for research, experimentation and production. The selected makers will each receive a grant of €7,800 (€6,800 fee and €1,000 production budget). During the working period, the makers will have the opportunity to undertake physical and online research and to make a new work that will be shown in a joint exhibition at Het Nieuwe Instituut from 27 October 2022. While completing the residency, the makers will receive support from the staff of the three cultural institutions and from external experts. The makers are expected to make an active and positive contribution to the other activities associated with the project, such as the Re:Use Clinics, online essays and the design of the exhibition.

Parameters
The proposal must comprise a new research topic and a (media) artwork, based on the collections of (one or more of) the three institutions (Het Nieuwe Instituut, Sound and Vision and IISH) that are in the public domain. The proposal must:

• • have a clear theme that is supported by the archive materials
  • explore and question heritage in the public domain
  • contribute to diversity and use the archive materials to tell new stories.

We are looking for individuals who:

• are graduates, living in the Netherlands with a work permit
• identify as an artist, designer, creative thinker or maker
• have an affinity for archive materials, audio-visual work, graphic design, architecture, social history and art
• have demonstrable insight into or experience with creative reuse.

Submissions
Proposals may be submitted in English or Dutch until 5pm (CET) on 25 February 2022 by email to openarchief@beeldengeluid.nl.

The proposal must consist of:

• a motivation letter with a clear and concise project description and your motivation for working with open heritage materials (max 2 pages)
• appendix I: portfolio (max 10 pages)
• appendix II: CV (max 2 pages).

The proposal may contain links to videos or websites.

Assessment procedure
The jury, made up of representatives of the three institutes and two external artists, will select three makers from the entries. The results will be announced on 18 March 2022. No draft of the proposal may be submitted in advance. Candidates will receive confirmation of the receipt of their proposal by email no later than one week after the submission deadline.

Want to know more or have a question about the process?  
Visit www.openarchief.com for updates, visual materials, press releases and blogs, or send an email to openarchief@beeldengeluid.nl.