RExFORM

In 2020, an unprecedented collaborative project between maat and BoCA is born with the wish of fostering contemporary artistic creation following the evolution of the concept of performance as a collaborative practice and its ramifications embracing novel concepts of theatricality, choreography and mediality. RExFORM International Performance Project supports the production of works by young practitioners of 35 years of age or younger – every year an international jury will award a winning project to benefit from funding, debut space and international promotion.

INITIATED BY / A PARTNERSHIP

maat – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts

JURY

Beatrice Leanza
maat, Executive Director

Catherine Wood
Tate Modern, Performance Senior Curator

Chloé Siganos
Centre Pompidou, Performing Arts Director

John Romão
BoCA, Artistic Director

RExFORM
International Performance Project 2020

RExFORM is seeking performative, transdisciplinary and collaborative projects, which underline the openness and fluidity of the concept of performance.

While in the future the project will be open to international participants from around the world, maat and BoCA have decided to dedicate this inaugural 2020 edition to the support of Portuguese creators.

A new initiative by maat and BoCA, that was born from an unprecedented context at the time of the global crisis brought about by the spread of Covid-19 that:

• Incorporates the social importance of supporting and fostering experimentation for the younger generations. On the one hand, making artistic creation viable and, on the other, attracting new audiences to a hybrid and performative genre, which defies conventional standards and drives the emergence of new languages.
• Asserts itself as an incentive to international artistic creation in the area of performance, of increasing importance in the circuit of contemporary creative practices.
• Addresses forms of contemporary creation that think performance through different perspectives, namely choreographic, multimedia or digital.

OPEN CALL

1. The open call is open to a wide range of projects that contribute to deepening and expanding the concept of performance, within the visual and performing arts, dance and music.
2. Relational projects based on interdisciplinary intersections are privileged; including visual arts, choreography, theater, new media and multimedia narratives.
3. In this first edition, RExFORM is dedicated to the support of Portuguese artists under the age of 35. Artists can apply individually or in groups. Only new projects that may be developed by the end of 2020 are accepted.
4. RExFORM International Performance Project keywords:

• Emergency (urgency): A prize that arises in a very specific context and incorporates in its genesis the urgency to support younger artists. It is about the emergence of thinking about new models and forms of presentation, as well as the need to provide opportunities and challenges to a new generation.

• Transdisciplinarity: A prize that values hybridity, crossing, and collaborations between artists and creators from different areas.

• Future: An annual grant that begins in the context of exceptional times with the awareness of the importance of starting today to draw tomorrow. Imagine and envision future alternatives, an ecology of novel creative thinking, through collaboration and the communion of languages.

GOALS

RExFORM wants to encourage new discourses on the evolution of the performance concept, by supporting young artists. In a moment of uncertainty and instability, we think about the models and reformulations that this pause, this slowdown, can provide us. How is our body affected in the relationship with space and, above all, how can we now, more than ever, glimpse new ideas of collaboration, synergy and positive contamination.

RExFORM proposes to support an artist or collective, through the realization of a project that challenges the usual exhibition format, looking for innovative physical or virtual alternatives that play with the porosity of artistic boundaries. This is a challenge to projects that point to new languages.

With a jury composed of prestigious national and international members, the intention is to support original writing in new ways, contributing to the recognition and visibility of younger artists. With a vast network of partners and through continuous monitoring since its initial phase, the winning project should include a first phase of research and presentation in the digital context (online), before being launched in the institutional context of maat – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, and, in a later phase, benefit from national and international touring with BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts.

GRANT

Winner project 12.000€ (incl. VAT)

• The grant must therefore cover all associated expenses for the realization of the project in both its presentation and its launch in maat.

• It also includes coverage of any expenses for travel to and accommodation in Lisbon where necessary.
Promotional expenses are covered by the founding institutions.

1st Phase: Submission of applications 19 June – 19 July*
2nd Phase: Announcement of the winning project 10 August 2020
3rd Phase: Development and presentation of the winning project August – November 2020
4th Phase: Public presentation at MAAT December 2020
5th Phase: Circulation within the program of the 3rd edition of BoCA September – October 2021

Applications must be written in English (in 2020 the project is open only to Portuguese artists)

Send a single PDF document (max. 10MB) to reform.maat@edp.pt with:
• Copy of Citizen Card (this document will be protected and will only be used for application process);
• CV (max. 3 pages);
• Documentation of two previous projects (max. 2 pages, including visual and textual documentation; video links included, if applicable);
• Description of the project (max. 5.000 characters)
• Artistic objectives and framing in the candidate’s professional career (max. 4.000 characters);
• Attachments (optional; max. 2 pages): illustration of the project (images, links, references).

NOTES

i. Applicants must be up to 35 years old, at the date of submission of the application. In the case of competing in a group, the artistic directors cannot be over 35.
ii. Competitors must be willing to be contacted for interview by the Jury during the selection period.
iii. Competitors can optionally indicate the preferred location for the physical presentation of the project if in an interior or exterior for example or specify spatial/environmental conditions for the enactment of the project.
iv. In collective applications, all members must be identified. A collective and individual candidacy of any member of the collective at the same time is not allowed.
v. It is not required for this call to preset a budget plan.

For questions or further informations please contact maat@edp.pt or info@bocabienal.org