Call for applications: Document and Contemporary Art

Application deadline: 10 August 2014 European School of Visual Art (EESI) 134 rue de Bordeaux – 16000 Angoulême 26 rue Jean Alexandre – 86000 Poitiers www.eesi.eu
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Launched in October 2010 at the initiative of the European School of Visual Art, the postgraduate program Document and Contemporary Art, in partnership with the National Higher School of Art of Bourges, is open to art or film students, young curators, art critics or theorists seeking to prolong their studies through a three-year, postgraduate research program at the crossroads of the document and contemporary art, irrespective of media or technique. The aim of the postgraduate program is to foster theoretical and practical reflection on the function of the document and the archive both in the field of art and the broader social world. Participants are expected to follow the program's collective activities and to undertake individual research that combines artistic production and theoretical reflexion. The individual research project enables participants to obtain, after successfully completing the three-year program, a PhD-level degree in artistic research. The program's activities are condensed into once-monthly meetings of approximately one week. For these meetings, the program functions as a seminar, inviting artists, theorists or curators. Participants are required to attend the collective research seminars and to engage in a regular writing practice in the form of reports and correspondence. After a sustained inquiry into the concepts of "performative documents," "paper films," "scriptology," and "methodological slippage," the program will focus more particularly over the coming year on the performativity of rumour as a mode of socialized documentation. 2014–2015 will be a year of mobility, taking on a nomadic character. Pending final confirmation, the monthly meetings will be held in Poitiers, Angoulême, Marseille, Madrid, Beirut and Paris. An annual journal, Cahiers du post-diplôme, provides an account of the program's activities by bringing together writing and other work from the participating artists and invited guests. A collective research project, titled Unsupported Documents: things rumours do, proposed by Stephen Wright, is programmed for the spring of 2015 in Marseille. The partnership with the Film and Critical Studies departments at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts, Valencia), will be renewed once again this year. The program's recruitment is international. English and French are the principal working languages. Program director Érik Bullot, filmmaker, professor at the National Higher School of Art of Bourges Academic advisors Stephen Wright, theorist, professor at the European School of Visual Art Joan Ayrton, artist, professor at the European School of Visual Art Application Applicants should hold a national or international level-1 degree or equivalent (high-school certificate + five years of post-secondary study). Following a preliminary selection on the basis of the candidate's artistic dossier, letter of application and curriculum vitae, applicants will be invited to an interview by a panel. The artistic dossier, in digital form only, should include documentation of work produced by the applicant (texts, photographs, films, catalogues, articles). For film or sound works, applicants should select excerpts of ten minutes maximum and make them available online. The letter of application (two pages maximum) should present the candidate's itinerary, past experiences and particular interest in the postgraduate program. The candidate should also propose two referents (artists, theorists, curators) whom the selection committee can contact for possible recommendations. The postgraduates receive a stipend of 4,000 euros. The program is recruiting two young practitioners for 2014–2015. The artistic dossier and a letter of application should be sent by 10 August. Results will be announced on 7 September. Interviews with the selection committee will be held in Poitiers on 18 September. The first work session begins on 9 October. Applications and inquiries should be addressed to concours.post-diplome@eesi.eu. The European School of Visual Art is a fine art school supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council and the cities of Angoulême and Poitiers.