Perform your work at the Re Rīga! contemporary circus and street art festival at Zirgu pasts, performance art theatre of the Latvian Academy of Culture on 22 August 2015
Artists working in Latvia and the Baltic States are invited to participate in an open competition for performances that include elements or have been inspired by the contemporary circus genre. One performance (or element of a longer show) will be included in the Re Rīga! festival programme.
Judging by last year’s audiences, there is a significant growth in interest about the contemporary circus arts. Unfortunately, few local artists are visibly active in this field for the time being.
The goal of this programme is to encourage Latvian and Baltic performance artists to create interdisciplinary performances and test their skills in the contemporary circus genre. They will also have the opportunity to get to know local artists who are already interested in developing interdisciplinary pieces.
A pilot project is being conducted in 2017 to sponsor the participation of one artist or artists’ collective. We hope to expand the number of participants in the future so that we can include more local artists, thereby supporting local creativity.
In addition to the opportunity to perform, the artist or artists’ collective will receive support and suggestions from the festival’s guest artists, and, together with the Re Rīga! organisational team, will have the opportunity to choose one of the festival’s guest artists as a mentor. This mentor will attend the dress rehearsal and will offer advice concerning the development of the performance.
Artist selection
The competition will be open from July 12–31. The Re Rīga! organisational team will evaluate all entries and the name of the artist or artists’ collective chosen to participate in the festival will be announced on August 7.
Main criteria of the competition
The performance must be at least 25 minutes long, but can still be in the process of being developed. The artist (or artists’ collective) hoping to perform at the Re Rīga! festival does not necessarily have to define him/herself as a contemporary circus artist, but must be able to show how contemporary circus has influenced the creation of the performance. The chosen artist must be committed to collaborating with the festival’s guest artists and make use of the opportunity to receive the support and recommendations of the chosen mentor during the final dress rehearsal together with the team. Priority will be given to interdisciplinary acts that have not had the opportunity to perform on stage, as well as artists who can convincingly express their motivation to be involved with contemporary circus in the future.
In the case of many applicants, the Re Rīga! team will consider the possibility of including more than one artist in the festival programme, as long as it is not necessary to cover travel and accommodation expenses and the costs won’t exceed the festival budget.
The Re Riga! festival will provide:
The performance will be included in the official festival programme and all publicity materials, including communications with the international partners and artistic designers of the programme. Re Riga! will also ensure exhibition space for one dress rehearsal and one performance, as well as technical (light and sound) equipment and service personnel.
The festival will a pay a symbolic honorarium to the artist or artists’ collective in the fixed sum of 300 EUR and will bear the cost of travel and accommodation expenses in Riga up to 300 EUR.
Participant benefits
This is an opportunity to exhibit creative work and experiment with new forms of creative expression that, until now, have not had a suitable venue. Each year the Re Riga! festival is attended by the media and by professionals from abroad making it an excellent venue to facilitate recognition of local artists, cultural exchange and international cooperation between artists, as well as the personal professional growth of local artists. Application
Send your application to mara@reriga.lv by 31 July 2017. Your application should include: a brief presentation of your performance idea, a description of your creative team, the project leader’s resume, visual illustrations, as well as a list of the technical equipment needed for the performance. You are welcome to include additional materials, if you so choose.
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