The Sunday Round - 13

Artists, cities, society, infrastructure, citizenship and more.
A round up of opportunities and the things we've seen, read or been interested in this week.


This week: artists and ethics, World Press Photo exploitation, the myth of poverty, the real financial conditions of working as an artist and more. Plus, SIX new opportunities (jobs, commissions and residencies).

blur-crowd-indoors-950902.jpg

1. Does Your City Need a Chief Design Officer? Tech companies, non-profits, even government agencies all have Chief Design Officers. How might communities benefit from one and what would they do?

2. Hadi Eldebek - Why Must Artists Be Poor? TED Talk "if the arts contributes this much to our economy, why then do we still invest so little in arts and artists? Why do more than 80 percent of our schools nationwide still experience budget cuts in arts education programs? What is it about the value of arts and artists that we still don't understand?"

3. Rutger Bregman - Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character, It's a Lack of Cash: TED Talk "We could help the poor with their paperwork or send them a text message to remind them to pay their bills... These solutions are, I think, a symbol of this era in which we so often treat the symptoms, but ignore the underlying cause.

4. A Study on the Financial State of Visual Artists Today: A report published by The Creative Independent reflecting the lived experience of [largely] US-based visual artists, asking them to share how they were able or unable to achieve financial stability. 

5. When Can Artists Bend Ethics for Art's Sake? "What right does an artist have to use other people in their work—to invade their lives, violate their privacy, or cause them harm? What will we forgive in the name of art?"

6. Whose World? - Ali Baskerville:  "Unless you learn or even un-learn, you’ll just keep treading the same path as the photographers before, thinking you’re helping to change the world when all we’re doing is keeping the voices of people of colour lower.  Like we are somehow better placed to tell the story. Them and us. Exotic, wild, rare - we've used all these phrases in our photography. All damaging when used in the context of photojournalism and whiteness."


Opportunities:

Cardiff Council: Community Curator - a full-time post, forging strong relationships with our communities to help us tell the Cardiff Story.

Camargo Foundation: Residency - seeking 9 artists and 9 scholars for 6-11 week residencies in 2019/2020, in France. Travel, weekly €250 stipend & accommodation included. Deadline October 17th 2018.

Site Gallery: Participation Manager - working alongside newly appointed Artistic Director, Sharna Jackson to create an innovative and inclusive programme for the gallery in Sheffield.

The Lowry and The Egg: Commission - to create a bold, new dance piece for families, aged 5+. Includes £1500 fee, £7000 R&D budget, plus mentorship. Deadline September 3rd.

Digital Brighton's Grassroots Awards will grant £1000 to get event organisers and digital art projects off the ground.

Jerwood Visual Arts Makers Open - a commissioning initiative offering time, curatorial advice and logistical back up for early-career makers to develop their ideas and further their practice. Five artists will receive £8,000 to create new works for a national touring exhibition.