The DA LAB Foundation announces a call for project proposals implemented within the framework of the (e-valuation) initiative. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture.
"(e-valuation)" is aimed at encouraging and developing young authors in the field of digital arts. The title of the project is a reference to the meaning of the concepts of "value" and "worrth", in the technical and aesthetic context of digital media. We are curious about the possibilities to transform impersonal values of the medium into socially relevant values. We are looking for what matters to authors who have chosen digital forms for artistic expression and how they respond to themes and challenges in what we call the current pandemic period of the "new normal."
The five shortlisted applicants will each receive a £2,000 bursary to realise their project, as well as the opportunity for professional assistance in the form of advice and practical support from the DA LAB team during the production process.
The created works will be premiered in solo exhibitions of the five artists in Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo and Vidin, as well as in the upcoming 8th edition of the international festival for digital arts DA Fest in October 2021 in Sofia. They will become part of the portfolio of artists of the DA LAB Foundation, whose representation nationally and internationally will develop in the future.
Application and selection:
The call is aimed at artists under 40 years of age - Bulgarians or foreigners working in the country, who have a declared interest and previous experience in the field of digital arts. They are invited to propose an idea for an art project that interprets the theme in an original way and applies digital media and technologies in a creative way.
A jury composed of: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Venelin Shurelov, Dr. Galina Dimitrova-Dimova and Anthony Raizhekov, founders of the DA Lab Foundation, will select the five original ideas that will be implemented within the project.
The main evaluation criteria will be the inventive creative interpretation of the theme, the bold and innovative approach and the previous professional experience in digital arts.
Entry documents:
Participants are invited to send the following documents to dalabfoundation@gmail.com by 10 January 2021 inclusive:
- creative curriculum vitae (CV);
- a portfolio of selected digital art projects;
- a project proposal containing a title and description of the idea up to 3 A4 pages of text, technical parameters and recommended illustrative materials (if applicable) in a format at the discretion of the participants.
Project schedule:
Call for proposals: 30.11.2020.
Deadline for applications.
15 January 2021.
15 January to 30 March 2021.
Opening of the exhibitions and presentations with the authors.
Presentation of the projects at the 8th edition of YES FEST: October 2021.
The text of the call is available at: http://2019.da-fest.bg/bg/da-lab/left-menu-pages/proekti/stojnost-tsennostzwnj-e-valuation.html, as well as via the DA LAB Facebook page www.facebook.com/DALabFoundation.
For further information and inquiries: Boyka Ognyanova, bo@urbanistas.eu
DA LAB Foundation was founded in 2018 in Sofia as a virtual laboratory for digital arts by the contemporary artist, scenographer and lecturer Venelin Shurelov, PhD, curator and cultural manager Galina Dimitrova-Dimova, PhD, and media artist Antoni Raizhekov. It is a free platform for interdisciplinary experimentation in the territory of contemporary art through interaction between science, new technologies and different disciplines such as visual and plastic arts, sound art, contemporary theatre, dance, performance and interactive formats involving the audience.
The DA LAB Foundation is focused on a general exchange of knowledge through workshops and presentations of successful projects by Bulgarian and foreign artists working in the field of digital arts.
Among the most popular and successful projects of the Foundation is the International Digital Arts Festival "DA FEST", organized in partnership with the National Academy of Arts.
ABOUT THE JURY
Assoc. Prof. Venelin Shurelov (www.subhumantheatre.com) is a graduate of "Scenography" at the National Academy of Arts. He is a co-founder and lecturer in the Master's program "Digital Arts", co-founder, part of the curatorial team and technical organizer of DA Fest - International Festival for Digital Art, co-founder of DA LAB Foundation, Subhuman theatre and Via Pontica art group.
Venelin Shurelov is the author of various interactive installations/performances, some of which are "Drawing Machine" (2005), "Phantom" (2008), "Orthoman" (2009) "Tabula Rasa" (2010), "Shooting Range" (2012), "Rotor" (2016). In 2011 he realized the cyber lecture "Man Ex Machina", and in 2016 he put on the performance installation "Post-Everything" as a guest lecturer at Towson University, USA.
His original projects are diverse and include drawings, interactive installations and performance, digital technologies, video and art theory. He has a number of scenographic projects, solo and group exhibitions, as well as participation in numerous festivals in Bulgaria, Europe and USA. He has received numerous awards for his work in theatre and contemporary art. He lives and works in Sofia.
Dr. Galina Dimitrova-Dimova is an art historian, curator and organizer of cultural projects. She holds a Master's degree and a PhD in Art History from the National Academy of Arts.
Her main areas of work are public art, digital arts and socio-cultural projects. Co-curator and organizer of the international digital arts festival DA Fest at the National Academy of Arts since 2009. Co-founder of DA Lab Foundation (2018). Project coordinator at the Credo Bonum Foundation (2011-2019) and curator of the foundation's gallery (2013-2015). Curator of the West Park public art festival (2012-2014). Curator and head of artistic projects at the Interspace Media Arts Centre in Sofia (1999-2008) and Editor-in-Chief of KULT.BG Arts and Culture Server (2004-2008).
She has implemented a number of curatorial projects with Bulgarian and foreign artists, organized forums and conferences on various topics of contemporary art and culture, trainer in training programs for emerging artists, co-author of documentaries and experimental films, lecturer at the Master's Program for Digital Arts of the National Academy of Arts.
Antoni Raizhekov (1980) is a Bulgarian media artist based in Vienna since 2008. He graduated from NATFA "Kr. Sarafov" - acting (2001) and directing (2007). He studied jazz piano and improvisation (2009-2013) at the Vienna Konservatorium and information technology at the LearningTree workshops, London. He worked as an IT consultant (2008-2010) at UN Vienna and co-founded the Vienna-based new media label THIS.PLAY (2009-2013), realising numerous international projects in China, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, etc.
Anthony has been working in the field of contemporary visual and sound arts, performance and technology for more than 10 years with international success and is the author of projects such as QUANTUM PICTURES (2010), 10VE (2014), SOMAPHONY(2016). He has won awards in the field of audio-visual arts and is a scholarship holder of Akademie Schloss Solitude - Germany and Akademie Hallein - Austria, among others.
Anthony has been a guest lecturer in the field of Digital Arts since 2012 at the University of Applied Sciences St. Polten - Austria and since 2016 at the National Academy of Arts - Sofia, and has held numerous workshops in the field of digital art and technology in Germany, Austria, England, Romania, etc.