Austria | Festival of Regions 2021 - call for proposals

The Festival of Regions is one of the most distinguished festivals of contemporary art and culture in Austria. For the 2021 edition the Festival of Regions is looking for local and international cultural workers and artists, working in all disciplines, such as visual and performing arts, land art, literature, media art, music, film, … These CultureNauts will explore the region and co-create the festival program with the artistic director.

The 2021 edition will focus on the Upper Austrian part of the historical Salzkammergut – between Bad Ischl and Hallstatt. With the topic Underground / Unter Tag, it adopts a term that reflects the living realities of the people that worked in the salt mines of Salzkammergut. This historical reference serves as a point of departure and will be expanded to incorporate additional dimensions/interpretations such as:

• Forms of resistance.

• Opportunities for improving living and working conditions.

• Unspoken conflicts or topics.

• People’s concrete needs and dreams regarding their region.

• ‘Daytime tourism’ and ‘night-time tourism’.

• Impacts of climate change on the region.

• Presentation and strengthening of local underground culture, alternative scenes, counter-cultures, subcultures or protest movements.

The CultureNauts will develop their own projects and participate in collaborative projects with other CultureNauts through a series of joint research and project development phases, researching and/or working with the local population, cultural initiatives, and artists.

The outcomes – exhibitions, installations, theatre or dance performances, concerts, art in public space, etc. – will be presented in the context of the Festival from 25 June – 4 July 2021. The budgets of the projects are to be developed in close collaboration with the general manager of the Festival.

Selected CultureNauts will take part in collaborative research and development phases from 9-18 October 2020 (kick off and exchange between participants, initial development of project ideas); from 18-31 January 2021 (presentation and project planning); and from 10 May 2021 to the end of the festival (concrete preparation and execution of the projects). Additional individual project related stays could also be scheduled when necessary.

The Festival of Regions will cover travel and accommodation costs and will provide a stipend of 3500 € for the research and development phases of the projects. It will also cover fees involved in the execution of the projects.

Deadline: 23 March 2020