Soil Art Tales Open Call

In the frame of the project “SOILTRIBES - Glocal Ecosystems Restoring Soil Values, Roles and Connectivity”, supported by Horizon Europe - the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation - the Global Network of Water Museums launches an open call for producing new artworks to increase soil interpretation and literacy across society. The objective is to trigger a new soil tale adding emotional and motivational layers to human-soil connections, offering new ways of visualizing, interpreting, and interacting with soil. The project of the call is titled SOIL ART TALES. It will be curated by WAMU-NET through the work of selected artists and a number of travelling exhibitions. The selection, production and exhibition process will last for three years. Four artists will be selected to produce four artworks. Next to the artworks, and under the guidance of an art curator, artists will have to produce a film teaser in which they present their vision for the Soil Art Tale and proposal to foster deep emotional connections. The award for selected artists will include an artist fee of 6.000,00 € and reimbursement of production costs and materials not exceeding 3.000,00 €. Artists from all fields are invited to participate, including video, photography, performance, installation, and Digital arts. Selection criteria include the quality and innovation of the project, the engagement of the public, the relevance to the issues of traditional uses of soil, sustainability, use and reuse of materials, and previous experiences and artworks related to soil and ecosystems literacy. Concerning eligibility criteria, there are no limits on nationality, age, race, ethnicity, religion and gender, and the active participation of underrepresented societal groups is encouraged. There is a particular interest in participatory approaches and proposals engaging the audience and triggering behavioural change. Project proposals that also focus on traditional uses of land and water that have nurtured the biodiversity of soils in Europe over the centuries, for example with terracing systems in agriculture and/or other land/hydraulic devices that involved historically the local communities in direct land management also highlighting how human activities fostered local ecosystems. In this frame, proposals linked to Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) and so called Ancient Hydro-Technologies (AHTs) will be considered as an added value. The sustainability of artistic projects is also a relevant matter, and a short supply chain and the practice of reuse and zero miles will be prioritized in the selection of best proposals for art installations. A sustainable transport/reproduction of the work will be considered too, as the selected artworks will be disseminated through a travelling exhibition. The selected four artists will be invited to develop artworks that will be exhibited in different museums in order to increase soil literacy and better understanding of soil ecosystems. Artworks must be produced in a timeframe of six months, starting from April 2025, and will be exhibited from November 2025 in seven different locations across Europe in line with the ambitions and the objectives of the project. Interested artists are invited to send manifestations of interests through the Application Form including: 1. A letter of interest; 2. Curriculum vitae, including contact info; 3. The proposal of an artwork, including concept, detailed description (i.e. concerning materials, methodology), timeline and images (rendering or sketches); 4. Images and/or texts and/or links with examples of previous works on the subject The message must not exceed 8 Mb. It is possible to use a transfer for bigger files. Each file name must contain the title SOIL ART TALE + surname and first name of the artist. The manifestations must be sent by 6 March 2025 with the object “Artist Selection Soil Tribes + Name of the artist” via email to: communication@watermuseums.net.