Open Call for Proposals for an Artist Commission in Collaboration with the Working Class Movement Library, Salford Deadline: Monday 10Th September, 11.59Pm BST
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Open call for proposals for an artist commission in collaboration with the Working Class Movement Library, Salford Deadline: Monday 10th September, 11.59pm BST BOUND ART BOOK FAIR is an annual celebration of artists publishing from the UK and Europe, taking place for the second year at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. The fair features stalls from independent and artist publishers alongside a free public programme of talks, workshops, music and new commissions. Bound seeks to develop and contribute to networks of engagement extending outside of London, with a specific focus on supporting projects and emerging practices in the North of England. This year our programme pays specific attention to the press as a political and pedagogical tool. In an age of online activism, we will look at artists and activists developing pamphlets and print ephemera with renewed urgency, and politically-engaged projects that employ print as a vital component of their output. We will examine ways in which the stories and struggles of working people have been manifest in print form, and the ways the material qualities, processes and legacies of print activism have influenced contemporary artists and artworks. We will also look at recent publishing projects that give voice to marginalized communities or confront present injustices. We are inviting artists to submit proposals for a project in collaboration with the Working Class Movement Library, Salford, to be displayed at Bound Art Book Fair this October. The Working Class Movement Library collection documents over 200 years of organising and campaigning by ordinary men and women. The Library started life in the 1950s as the personal collection of Edmund and Ruth Frow. By the 1980s their house was at bursting point and so Salford Council agreed to house the magnificent library in a Victorian building called Jubilee House in Salford. The collection tells the story of Britain’s working classes from the beginning of industrialisation to the present day, with items dating back to the 1760s. The Library holds some of the earliest Trade Union documents to have survived, artefacts relating to the Peterloo massacre of 1819, as well as fascinating insights into the lives of the Suffragettes. There is material relating to the Spanish Civil War, Fascism and anti-Fascism, the Miners Strike, Black and Asian struggles, Chartism, Radical Socialism and more. We are looking for proposals for a display incorporating a selection of objects or titles from the WCML collection with new or existing work by the artist. The display can be freestanding or installed on tables. Artwork need not be in print form; we welcome a range of media and are especially interested to see experimental and innovative approaches in synthesising historical material with new forms. We especially welcome proposals that engage with the Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Voting for Change – 150 Years of Radical Movements, 1819 to 1969’, although proposals focusing on any aspect of the collection will be considered. Explore the collection here. The selected artist will be offered a booked space in the WCML Reading Room for up to four days in late September, with the assistance of a specialist Librarian with extensive knowledge of the collection for two of those days. Further days in the Reading Room may be available for booking at the discretion of the WCML. A stipend of £1,000 is available to cover all expenses related to the project, and an artist’s fee of £500. TO APPLY Please send all proposals as a single page PDF, along with a CV and up to five examples of recent work as jpegs or Vimeo/YouTube links. Email proposals to [email protected] with the subject “WCML Project Proposal” no later than 11.59pm on Monday 10th September. The selected artist will be notified by Thursday 13th September. Artwork must be ready to install at the Whitworth on Friday 12th October. Please note, this is not a residency and no dedicated accommodation is available for the selected artist. Bound Art Book Fair organisers are able to advise and assist with finding suitable affordable accommodation if necessary. .