Call For Submissions: ‘The commons’ Exhibition

The Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology, located in Montreal/Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang, is pleased to announce a call for submissions for its annual members’ exhibition, which will take place from September 25 – 29, 2023, at Concordia’s 4th Space.

Milieux is seeking submissions from active student and faculty members that engage with this year’s theme: The Commons. Members are invited to submit an individual or collective proposal to feature their creative work, including (but not limited to): visual art, audio projects, performance, presentations, written or text-based work, workshops, panel discussions, and more. 

Deadline to apply: July 1st, 2023.

Theme:

For this year’s exhibition, Milieux invites its members to submit interdisciplinary projects and activities that relate to the concept of “The Commons”.

The Commons refers to shared resources and spaces that are accessible to all members of a community or society. This exhibition seeks to explore the many facets of The Commons and showcase the ways in which it can be a source of creativity, collaboration, and social change. 

The concept of  Commons can be interpreted through different means, including the natural commons, such as land, water, air, and the ways in which they are managed and protected; the cultural commons, such as knowledge, art, and literature, and the ways they are created. The concept of the commons can also be thought of as a shared space for innovative approaches to research and art-making, including open-source software, commonalities, and collaborative and community-based practices. The Commons can also explore the challenges and opportunities of creating and maintaining a commons, including issues of governance, inclusivity, and collective action.

We encourage all participants to explore the theme through their respective research and creative practices.

Considerations of the theme ask many questions, including: 

• -As artists and researchers, how do our activities reflect an ethos of tending to, experimenting with, and cultivating a commons? 
• -How can such “commons” be constructed, negotiated, or provoked in the co-presence of others?
• -What is the role of art in creating and sustaining commons, and how do these practices challenge dominant norms and power structures?
• -What are the fruits of our common fields?

Keywords:

Keywords may include, but are not limited to:

shared spaces; alternative futures; sustainability; speculative fiction; community-based research; climate change; counterarchives; alternative temporalities; land back; digital spaces; care and community; open access; collective action; undercommons; community art; social practices; creative commons; maker culture; co-creation; collaboration; craft; translation; participatory or interactive objects; material knowledges; place-based knowledge; scores; sustainable fashion; circular economy; visual storytelling; collective memory; player communities; philosophical gardens;

Details:

Due to spatial limitations, we are encouraging the submission of works with a small-to-medium physical footprint. For larger sculptural objects, consider proposing a mode of display or documentation that can translate the work into the context of 4th Space while respecting our physical constraints. In the spirit of common resources, digital submissions such as video or audio works may be compiled into a sequence in one or more central viewing stations.

Please outline technical requirements and requests in advance. 

We are excited to offer a $250 honorarium to each selected project for exhibiting artwork or performing at the event. This honorarium is per project and not per participant, and we’ll pay the honorarium at the end of the event. Groups should nominate one eligible student member to receive the honorarium; faculty members are not eligible. This honorarium aims to recognize and support student research/creation and professionalization. To verify your eligibility, please contact Ariana Seferiades, Head of Communications at Milieux Institute at ariana.seferiadesprece@concordia.ca.

To Apply please fill out the submission form:

THE COMMONS | EXHIBITION CALL