Call for applications

16-month program hosted by the Bern University of the Arts HKB
Up to nine residents are invited to join the Sommerakademie Paul Klee (SPK) program, curated by artist Dora García, and beginning August 2, 2021. Over the course of 2021 & 2022, the SPK features public lectures, closed-door seminars, and access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and technical support at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB)—but also teaching opportunities in the form of workshops at the HKB. In response to ongoing practical and political contingencies, this call is addressed to applicants residing within an approx. 1000 km radius of Bern though we are also introducing the option of digital SPK residencies, from further afar.

Curatorial framework 2021/22: Position voice mundo
“Position voice mundo” said Chicana feminist author Gloria Anzaldúa: determine your position, make your voice heard, understand and shape the world.

We are in a period of transition or Nepantla, with the rise of patriarchal figures, the urgency of climate change, the erosion of democracy and equality. In the face of this, there is a transnational movement able to confront, resist, and move forward: feminism. Inclusive feminism implies a feminization of politics, to interact with the world not as extractive predators, but as free citizens taking sides with life. This involves a subversion of values opening to an inclusive way of being in the world, leaving no one behind. In the area of literature and the arts, this means to boldly question “quality” and the canon, and the possibility of other art circuits that do not reproduce privilege. SPK 2021/22 will take place in Bern, national capital of Switzerland, the most extensive model of direct democracy currently available. Switzerland is also the last European jurisdiction to grant women the right to vote.

“‘But what do they want?’ was the question since the first Feminist Conference in June 2018, held in Lausanne, and its call for a Women’s / Feminist strike to be held a year later. On 14 June 2019, exactly 28 years after the first-ever women’s strike in Switzerland, more than half a million women and supportive men took part in mobilizations all over the country.” Stéfanie Prezioso

The SPK program will seek continuity with the preceding editions, emphasizing education as a powerful political tool. It will as well rethink such educational processes, with an emphasis on materialist situations of art production.

Timeline
subject to change on account of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
–The first session, August 2–8, 2021, to be held entirely online.
–Meetings in Bern are planned for February & July/August 2022, with access to HKB infrastructure and technical support on five additional days each.
–December 2021 and 2022, residents conduct workshops with HKB students, remunerated at going local rates.
–Additional meetings may materialize as the program evolves.

Digital & on-site residencies in Bern
Building on longtime efforts to devise a residency that is ecologically, intellectually and economically sustainable, the SPK will now focus on a pool of applicants residing within 1000km of Bern. Travel, accommodation, visa expenses and a per diem of CHF 50 are covered. Residents using production facilities are entitled to a modest production stipend of CHF 500. Applicants residing over 1000km from Bern are invited to take part in the residency digitally. From a distance, Digital Residents will enjoy the very same perks as residents on location: access to all SPK lectures and seminars, teaching opportunities at the HKB, a production stipend, a per diem, and tutorials with the SPK curator.

Requirements
–application file (more info on the following website) to be submitted digitally by May 5, 2021, 7am CET
–availability for a short Zoom interview May 21, 2021
–a firm commitment over the entire span of the program (August 2021, February 2022, summer 2022)