CALL FOR RESIDENCIES LABORAL IMPULSA
The LABoral IMPULSA Residency aims to re-examine potential connections available today that serve to open up creative, work and business means of development for new generations
“Creative and Cultural Industries on the Mile of Knowledge” Project
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT.
Can art and culture offer a conceptual framework and a functional dynamic that will foster new areas of innovation and production, of work and business? The LABoral IMPULSA Residency believes so.
The LABoral IMPULSA Residency aims to re-examine potential connections available today that serve to open up creative, work and business means of development for new generations.
A century ago, the Bauhaus school offered an irrefutable example of how to generate an entrepreneurial ecosystem for research and production that drove solid innovations based on art and culture in all fields of industrial and creative production.
What precipitated that innovative period was the connection between craftsmanship, the fine arts and industrial production; in the mid-20th century, other similar experiences were characterized by a dialogue among art, science and technology, such as that proposed by the Centro de Cálculo at the University of Madrid in the decade of the 1960s or the Medialab at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of technology) starting in the mid-1980s.
For some years now, we have witnessed an increase in the number of prestigious international centres that are collaborating with artists in all fields of creation, through various residency programs. They include entities such as: CERN, the European Space Agency (ESA), European Southern Observatory (ESO) and NASA. In fact, at present, LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre forms part of the European Digital Art and Science Network (EDASN), in which some of these scientific centres participate. Sam Zeller, a physicist at CERN, explains that "One of the things that surprised me most when working with artists was the fact that they can articulate what my research means for humanity much better than I can and that renewed my enthusiasm for my work.”
In recent times, initiatives such as the residency program New INC, located at the New Museum of New York, also offer entrepreneurial environments for professional and business development, with the objective of generating new connections and supporting innovation, collaboration and the entrepreneurial spirit through art, design and technology.
LABoral has DNA made up of the intersection among art, science, technology and society. Devoted to research, production and dissemination of new forms of artistic and industrial creation, as set forth in its statutes, the centre has worked along these lines for 10 years.
Above and beyond merely aesthetic questions, LABoral IMPULSA is yet another example that interdisciplinary artistic practices offer an environment that fosters the production and communication of knowledge, not only related to the field of sciences but also as far as contributing a certain expertise, a methodology to foster new dynamics for thinking and creating innovatively.
LOCAL FRAMEWORK.
This program is based on a commitment on the part of the Ayuntamiento of Gijón (the city council) to foster and support cultural and creative industry and also a connection among the various agents on the Mile of Knowledge for giving concrete form to projects that generate new companies and therefore wealth for the city.
IMPULSA constitutes one of the main instruments used by the Ayuntamiento de Gijón in supporting the development and growth of the business structure and network of the city. To do so, they have developed various strategies within the framework of economic promotion, tending to foster the economic development of Gijón and drive the local economy and innovation, as a development strategy in view of the future. Enhancing the cultural and creative industry constitutes one of the means of support to business promotion in the city of Gijón, which facilitates the creation of new business projects and their consolidation. They thus become driving elements for the development of a solid business structure, updated to the needs of the 21st century and adapted to the local environment.
This is reflected in the “Agreement on the growth and diversification of economic activity, talent drivers and improvement of employability in a framework of social cohesion” (Gijón Grows 2016-2019) on its second axis of “Empowering Sectors”. In addition, it is part of the Gijón Strategic Plan 2026 (PEG 2026), where the sector of cultural and creative industry is included within the strategic actions and projects. Moreover, it is included in the Strategy for Sustainable Integrated Urban Development (DUSI), where the sector is included as a key to innovative economic activity which also adds value for local residents.
IMPULSA, in its work generating knowledge, innovation and business structure, needs to rely on leading centres in the city that specialize in the subject to be developed. In this case, that means support for entrepreneurs and micro-companies in the cultural and creative sector, as well as fostering the connection among the various agents located along the Mile of Knowledge. To do so, IMPULSA relies on LABoral to carry out this program, given that the objectives of this not-for-profit entity include fostering dialogue among art, science, technology and society through a transversal and integrated program which aims to generate and share knowledge for all audiences. LAboral is specialized in producing, disseminating and fostering access to cultural forms which arise from the creative use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and also knows well the territory of Asturias and its economic and social context.
THE PROGRAM.
LABoral IMPULSA Residency aims to foster the development of creative processes extended to the most diverse fields of production and services. LABoral IMPULSA Residency will offer a connection with LABoral’s European networks, its laboratories for design and digital, audiovisual and sound creation, as well is its exhibition platforms and residency programs not only aimed at young artists, scientists and engineers but also at social and business entrepreneurs with whom a path to the future can be opened based on the parameters of greater collaboration and sustainability.
To that end, LABoral IMPULSA Residency will connect art and culture with business, employment, development, and social and environmental responsibility through this residency proposal.
Participants will pay nothing to occupy the workspace and will be charged fees at special rates to use the equipment and laboratories.
LABoral IMPULSA Residency will not provide financing to the resident projects, but it will offer space and infrastructures for work, accompaniment, orientation and support in the search for partners, subsidies, and grants, as well as relevant connections in our local, national and international networks of contacts and collaborations.
The residencies offered will have a duration varying between 9 and 18 months, from January 2018 to June 2019.
TO WHOM IS THE CALL FOR PROJECTS ISSUED?
LABoral IMPULSA Residency is aimed at innovative initiatives related to creative and cultural industries in the digital era, which propose all kinds of projects in new formats, including those related to environmental, health or food technologies and their impact or influence on society and culture. Proposals will be considered from:
- Independent professionals: artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, writers, activists, cultural managers, researchers, scientists, etc.
- Creative groups or teams that work on design (graphic, mobile, web, product), architecture, fashion, information, interaction (interactive installations, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, games, experiential performances, etc.).
- Start-Ups: recently created not-for-profit entities, social companies or organizations with commercial aims, preferably interdisciplinary in character, as well as socially and/or environmentally and culturally committed ones.
We are looking for...
- Creative professionals and initiatives with a project, product or a business idea that are clearly defined that show new ways of thinking and working.
- Entrepreneurs on a regional, national or international scale who wish to develop their careers and business activities from the Municipality of Gijón.
- Individual professionals and groups of three or four persons.
A maximum of five residencies will be granted in this first call for projects, although there will be subsequent calls in the coming 12 months.
WHAT DO WE OFFER?
- LABoral offers a space for shared work (room 4) -details in appendix 1 - and spaces for meetings, rehearsals/tests and/or presentations.
- LABoral makes available to the program laboratories for design and digital, audiovisual and sound creation.
- LABoral will serve as a local, national and international platform for meeting and collaboration among artists, scientists and technicians from the most diverse disciplines in a stimulating environment for meetings, exhibits, seminars and talks through the program of research residencies and the production of projects committed to art and digital culture and the great visibility offered by active participation in the European network of centres of art, science and technology: EDASN and ENCAC, the European Network for Contemporary AV Creation.
- LABoral will offer ongoing training related to creative methodologies and processes linked to new trans-disciplinary practices that arise from the dialogue among art, science, technology and society.
- LABoral also proposes coordination meetings held periodically in which the work being done by residents can be shared, thereby making collaborations possible in all fields. LABoral will offer support and the dissemination of projects and will drive international connections while organizing discussion forums and meetings with personalities of renowned prestige in fields of common interest. At the end of the residency period, LABoral will propose the organization of an exhibit in which the results and/or processes of the residents’ projects will be disseminated.
- IMPULSA will offer residents the opportunity to participate in programs that support entrepreneurship and the business consolidation that said entity carries out in its everyday activities (as per the guidelines set forth by IMPULSA for that purpose in the various programs).
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND COMPOSITION OF THE JURY.
Criteria:
- Concise realistic proposal with a clear convincing vision innovative approach
- Originality of the proposal
- Opportunity for the proposal
- Experimental, collaborative and social impact values
- Creative use of technology
- Feasibility of the project
- Prior experience will be valued
- Interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary character
- Suitability with the work framework and objectives of LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre and the resources made available
Jury:
The jury will be comprised of a total of seven members, two representatives of each of the promoting entities, LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre and IMPULSA, in addition to three independent professionals of renowned prestige in the field of creative and cultural industries. The jury's verdict will not be subject to appeal.
SCHEDULE OF THE CALL FOR PROJECTS.
2 November: Opening of the application submission period.
01 December: Closing of the application submission period.
14 December: Meeting of the jury
18 December: Publication of accepted applications
19 - 21 December: Interviews
28 December: Notification of acceptance decisions
2 January: Date of the beginning of residencies LAB IMPULSA RESIDENCY
Participation in the call for projects implies acceptance of these criteria.
For further information or questions about the call for projects, contact: rrpp@laboralcentrodearte.org
Download the complete bases [+]
Send your projects through the following link [+]
Note: This platform enables attaching text and audiovisual files and also enables advance online review by jury members.
