Open call: Meet Leeds Lab
LEEDS 2023 in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy
LEEDS 2023, in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy, are launching a new artistic residency and platforming opportunity. This will take place in the lead-up and during our programme, creating artistic development, cultural exchange and showcasing opportunities for Netherlands-based artists in Leeds. You can apply before 21 November 2022.
Read more on the LEEDS2023 website
Leeds already has lots of exciting relationships with the Netherlands. From our international festivals and dance agencies that have presented the work of Dutch artists, to our visual arts and music organisations who have had long standing relationships with creatives from the Netherlands’ for over 30 years.
Our shared history provides an excellent starting point for developing deeper and more established relationships between artists and organisations. We will develop artists from the Netherlands through professional development, commissioning, and presenting their existing work in Leeds.
This project will begin with an artist development programme called Meet Leeds Lab, which will see up to 10 artists from the Netherlands visiting Leeds to experience and creatively respond to the city.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are looking for artists from all backgrounds who have a desire to use their artistic practice to explore international connections and cultural exchange. From painters to poets, performers to animators, photographers to creative technologists, if your practice has something interesting to say, and you feel that LEEDS 2023 can help you to say it, then this is the opportunity for you.
We are looking to welcome artists who are based in the Netherlands, whether they already have a connection to the city of Leeds or might be unfamiliar with the city. This opportunity is designed for artists who are seeking to internationalise their work for the first time, or for the first time since the pandemic.
Applicants must also be able to meet the following criteria:
- Be a permanent resident within the Netherlands
- Not currently a student or in full time education
- Be 18 years old or over
- Have a good level of written and spoken English, as this will be the working language
- Have a valid passport
- Be available to travel to Leeds between 16-20 Jan 2023.
Your application can be made either in a written format or you can send it to us as a video or a voice note – whichever you prefer. Just make sure you use the correct link to enter using your preferred method.
AIM OF THE PROJECT
The aim of the Meet Leeds Lab project is to:
- Amplify the internationalism of Leeds and its relationship with the Netherlands by inviting a cohort of artists from the Netherlands to experience and respond to the city. This is with a view to presenting, commissioning and co-designing projects as acts of creative exchange
- Introduce the cultural sector and audiences in Leeds to the work of Netherlands based artists and build more cultural understanding of the Dutch arts landscape
- Build strong and long-lasting relationships between cultural organisations in Leeds and artists who are based in the Netherlands
- Provide platforming, networking and professional development opportunities for artists and cultural workers from the Netherlands in Leeds
The outcomes of this programme delivered in 2022-2023 will be felt way beyond the lifespan of the Year of Culture, using LEEDS 2023 as a unique opportunity to nurture and grow partnerships that can be continued by the consortium of organisations represented in this application.
PROCESS
To apply for this Meet Leeds Lab opportunity, please complete an application form. As part of the application you will be asked five questions:
- Tell us about yourself and your artistic practice.
- Tell us about what excites you about this opportunity.
- Why is your practice relevant to cultural partners and audiences in Leeds?
- How would collaborating with an international partner benefit your practice at this time in your creative career?
- Is there anything else you would like to say?
The deadline to complete applications is Mon 21st Nov 2022 at 10AM (GMT).
If you need support to make the application, please contact us on: tomcurteis@leeds2023.co.uk or +44 0113 511 2027.
If you would like to make an application by video or audio/voice recording, please respond to each question asked in the application process. Your recordings should be no longer than 10 minutes in total. We recommend uploading videos to YouTube or Vimeo first and sharing a link with us, if you’re sharing an audio file you can upload this directly to the form. This is because have limited the size of uploads to 25mb.
We aim to let applicants know by the Fri 2nd December 2022 if their application has been shortlisted.