Call for entries: 2013–14
Deadline for applications: 15 April 2013, 6pm
Open evening and tour:
Thursday 21 March 2013, 6–9pm
43 De Beauvoir Road
London N1 5SQ
Launching in September 2013, Open School East is an art school and communal space housed in the former Rose Lipman Library in De Beauvoir Town, in Hackney. It will facilitate the sharing of space, knowledge and skills, as well as collaborative opportunities, between artists, local residents and neighbourhood organisations. Open School East was co-founded by Anna Colin, Sarah McCrory, Laurence Taylor and Sam Thorne.
Open School East is commissioned by the Barbican and CREATE London.
Applications for approximately 12 associate places are now open.
For information on how to apply, please visit: www.openschooleast.org
About Open School East
Open School East comprises three interrelated elements: a year-long studio-based study programme; a shared activity space involving neighbourhood groups and individuals; and a public events programme. In September 2013, it will launch its pilot year in a former library and community hall, which until 2011 was home to the Hackney Archives. Reopening the building to neighbourhood groups and individuals is key to the initiative, as is opening out activities generated within the space to different constituencies. The initiative has been developed in response to increased tuition fees in the UK and is a commitment to providing alternative learning and inviting interactions between an artistic community and the local neighbourhood.
How will the study programme function?
Following an interview process this spring, approximately 12 associates will be selected to join the pilot year of Open School East. They will be provided with free tuition—from international artists, writers, curators and theorists—as well as studio spaces, for the course of one academic year. As part of their studio-based study programme, the 12 associates will work towards developing collaborative and locally focused projects. These will be developed from discussions between the associates, the team and local stakeholders. In lieu of paying fees, they will be expected to take an active role in developing and running public activities in and around the building.
An average of two days of teaching a week will be provided for the duration of three ten-week terms. Guests will be brought in to devise wide-ranging sessions; selected seminars will be open to the public. The study programme will be overseen by a part-time team, as well as being partially self-directed by the associates. It is a non-accredited programme.
Invited speakers include: Ed Atkins (artist); Defne Ayas (director, Witte de With); Ed Baxter (director, Resonance FM); Polly Brannan (artist, educator and curator); Pablo Bronstein (artist); Brian Dillon (writer and critic); Tim Etchells (artist and artistic director, Forced Entertainment); Janna Graham (project curator, Serpentine Gallery); Jeanne van Heeswijk (artist); Sarah James (art historian, UCL); Marysia Lewandowska (artist); Maria Lind (director, Tensta Konsthall); Nils Norman (artist); Olivia Plender (artist); Elizabeth Price (artist); Daniel Sinsel (artist); Mike Sperlinger (curator, LUX); Sally Tallant (artistic director, Liverpool Biennial); Marina Vishmidt (writer).
Who is it for?
Associates at Open School East will be artists who have in recent years completed a BA, MA or have taken alternative routes into art-making. The programme is for anyone interested in thinking critically about what it means to develop a shared building and to work in collaboration with individuals and groups within a neighbourhood.
The associates will, in different ways, take an active role in making the former Rose Lipman Library a dynamic space—a site for social, intellectual and practical exchanges. Open School East is interested in creating a dedicated temporary community of artists with wide-ranging practices, interests, experiences and skills, who will be selected accordingly. Successful applicants will need to ensure they can make a time commitment for the duration of the year-long programme.
People
• Team: Anna Colin and Laurence Taylor
• Advisory committee: Matthew Darbyshire (artist), Hadrian Garrard (CREATE London), Sean Gregory and Louise Jeffreys (Barbican), Sarah McCrory (curator and co-founder), Sam Thorne (editor and co-founder), Emily Pethick (director, The Showroom).
Open School East is supported by using public funding by Arts Council England. The project is also supported by the Legacy Trust UK and the London Borough of Hackney.
