Call for proposals 2014 has started
The non-commercial, artist-run project
space GoetheOnMain in Maboneng, Johannesburg, has called for proposals for 2014 in visual art,
literature, film, music, dance, and theatre. Deadline is August 15 2013.
The Goethe-Institut is known worldwide for
promoting intercultural engagement through fostering dialogue and exchange in
the arts.
GoetheOnMain was developed by the
Goethe-Institut South Africa and launched in May 2009 at Arts on Main in
Johannesburg as a non-commercial, artist-run project space – an exceptional
free platform in a city where cultural spaces are either commercially or
governmentally managed. The multi-disciplinary GoetheOnMain has since hosted a
wide range of exhibitions, workshops, events and performances; including visual
art, literature, film, music, dance, and theatre projects.
The way in which project selection takes
place is central in understanding the philosophy of GoetheOnMain. In order to
create an unbiased and open platform, the programme is decided by an
independent committee of arts professionals, who meet after the yearly public
call for proposals. Projects are invariably hotly debated. The focus above all
else is on artistic quality, whilst maintaining a sensitivity for the context
and local relevance and favouring an experimental approach.
The GoetheOnMain space itself also implies
a certain conceptual frame – that of the city, or a sense of ‘urbanity’: a
focus on the human relation as much as built environment. Previous projects at
GoetheOnMain have dealt extensively with politics of space, noting the
stratified city, gentrification, issues of access, and a loss of the ‘centre’
so typical of many world metropolises, but also of the personal as political -
focusing on private narratives, identities, eccentricities, and broader global
issues affecting the city dweller.
Project realisation: March to December
2014. Deadline for submissions: August 15, 2013.
For more information and to download the
application form, visit http://www.goethe.de/goetheonmain