Borderland Poetics is looking for project assistants

The project assistant positions are an opportunity for students or recent graduates to gain 1 or 2 month long first-hand work experience and contribute to preparing and producing a major art event. This is a paid opportunity that promotes cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Borderland Poetics, a co-operation programme between CCA Estonia, Rupert and Icelandic Art Center, is inviting emerging art professionals of the region to apply for the 2023 project assistant position. This year, we are looking for 2 assistants to work with the Sequences art festival (Tallinn, Estonia and Reykjavik, Iceland) and one assistant to work at Rupert (Vilnius, Lithuania).

The Programme offers a scholarship of €2400 and additionally covers return travel expenses for each participant. Accommodation agreements must be made by the participants themselves but the programme will partly cover these expenses depending on the price. The applicant must be willing to work 1 or 2 months in Tallinn, Reykjavik or Vilnius.

The assistant will work closely with an appointed supervisor, supporting them in various responsibilities related to exhibition and event production, management and communication. The training will take place during Autumn 2023.

Application process

Deadline for applications is 14 May 2023.

Please send your application opencall@cca.ee and specify your preferred location of assisting (for more information about each institution, see below). A jury, consisting of representatives of the partners, will select three applicants, each of whom will work at one institution.

Documents to be submitted before the deadline (in English):

– CV;
– Motivation letter stating the preferred institution and outlining the applicant’s interests in the selected institution/event;
– Recommendation letter. We encourage an academic reference or a letter from a previous colleague or superior stating the applicant’s skills and experiences within the field of contemporary art (optional)

Please note that in 2023 we are looking for Icelandic and Estonian applicants.

Requirements:

– Higher education (at least BA level) in the field of arts;
– Fluent English speaker;
– Must be based in or from Estonia or Iceland;
– Job experience in the visual arts will be regarded as an advantage.

About the 2023 partner institutions

Sequences XI Art Festival 

Sequences is an artist-run biennial in Reykjavik, Iceland. This edition will be curated by the team of curators from Tallinn, Estonia who work together at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art. This is why the assistants programme would take place in Tallinn and Reykjavik simultaneously. The selected assistant from Estonia would work in Reykjavik in October 2023 during the festival period, the selected person from Iceland would be working in September in Tallinn and in October in Reykjavik.The assistant would gain knowledge in producing an international art festival, providing a chance to gain hands-on production and communication experience.

The 11th edition of Sequences centers around the notions of ecologies, imagined mutations and transformations within a liquid understanding of time. Past, present and future are intertwined while we are looking into geological layers or microscopic events. With this edition we want to explore new perspectives and ways of seeing. The exhibition will be divided into chapters, starting from standing on a ground, on top of soil and earth, then move below the surface of the earth to reflect the many unseen elements and areas of the natural that we are all living with but maybe don’t always realize and experience. We take the below surface as a window into metaphysical realm, where we could find new ways for seeing ourselves in the natural world. 

Website: www.sequences.is
Instagram: @sequences_art_festival

Additional information:
Audur Jorundsdottir
Icelandic Art Center
audur@icelandicartcenter.is

Rupert

Rupert is a privately initiated and publicly-funded centre for art, residencies and education. Its activities began in 2012 and in 2013, it moved into ‘Tech Arts’, a creative hub designed by architect Audrius Ambrasas. 

Rupert’s mission is to establish close cooperation between artists, thinkers, researchers and other cultural actors through transdisciplinary programmes and residencies. Rupert is committed to integrating with the social and cultural life of Vilnius and Lithuania, while also maintaining a strong international focus.

Rupert manifests this mission through three related programmes: the Residency Programme, the Alternative Education Programme and the Public Programme. They are all dedicated to creating platforms for conversation, research and learning. Through these programmes, Rupert supports local and international thinkers in realising their projects and establishing their creative practice on an international scale. 

The placement is set to take place in autumn 2023 for two months. The selected project assistant will be supporting the development of the three core programmes at Rupert, more specifically public artist talk event, several lectures, final exhibition of the alternative education programme and potentially the reader of alternative education programme. The project assistant will actively engage with the participants of the residency and alternative education programmes and have a chance to take part in the activities tailored for them. This varied work placement will provide an insight into institutional structure, the local art scene as well as a chance to gain hands-on curatorial, administrative and communication experience.

Website: www.rupert.lt
Facebook: Rupert
Instagram: rupert_residency

About the programme

The programme is coordinated by partners of the Borderland Poetics Research Programme – the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, The Icelandic Art Centre, Rupert – centre for arts, residencies and education. The Borderland Poetics is a 3-year long network to promote cooperation between Estonian, Icelandic and Lithuanian art scenes. The title is a reference to an exhibition “Border Poetics”, curated by Estonian curator Eha Komissarov in 2018.

The programme is supported by the Nordic Culture Point.

Additional information:

Kaarin Kivirähk
Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art
opencall@cca.ee