The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create announce a major Commission opportunity

The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create are delighted to announce this significant opportunity for a collaborative/ socially engaged artist(s) to embark on a major commission.

Following on from their successful partnership on the CAPP commission (2017) awarded to Seamus Nolan’s Traveller Collection which investigated the idea of archive, deconstructed ideas on ‘heritage’ and engaged with communities of place and of interest involving Traveller activists and archivists, The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create are delighted to once again partner to offer a significant opportunity for collaborative/ socially engaged artist(s). We believe that collaborative arts involve artists and communities (non-arts professionals) who work together, often over extended periods, to make art. By facilitating wider participation, collaborative arts expand and diversify public engagement with the arts, enriching its contribution to society.

In keeping with both Hugh Lane Gallery and Create’s commitment to principles of equality, diversity and inclusion, we seek expressions of interest from artists who are from minority ethnic backgrounds and/ or have lived experience of displacement and/or are shaped by histories of intergenerational migration. Candidates may self-identify as Traveller, Roma, refugee, migrant or otherwise through lived experience and/or second generational memories. The commission is open to artists based in the Republic of Ireland.

The commission is aimed at professional artist(s) who are interested in developing or consolidating their collaborative/ socially engaged arts practice. Artist(s) should have a track record and experience of working in the field of collaborative/ socially engaged arts practice. The artist(s) should demonstrate the ability to connect to and read the complexities of the local area of Dublin city geographically within the Dublin City Council administrative area. We particularly welcome proposals which consider diverse ways to engage with both community and audience.
The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create will support the selected artist(s) by facilitating an inclusive and intersectional creative axis where art making, co-production, learning and knowledge exchange are the principals on which the relationship between the selected artist(s) and the community is built.

Timeline and budget

The commission runs from October 2022 for 12 to 14 months and has a budget of €50,000 in total. Please note the budget must include the allocation of fees, expenses, materials, production, insurance and VAT.

Who is eligible?

Any artist(s) based in the Republic of Ireland who is from a minority ethnic background, has first-hand experience of displacement and/or is shaped by histories of intergenerational migration. For this commission, candidates may self-identify as Traveller, Roma, refugee, migrant or otherwise through lived experience and/or second generational memories.
Artist(s) must have a track record of working in the field of collaborative/ socially engaged arts.

Application Process

Applicants are invited to submit:

• An expression of interest – max 3 A4 pages outlining your approach to the commission.
• A CV of max 3 A4 pages, to give a sense of previous projects.
• A 150-word biography outlining your current preoccupations as an artist.
• Up to 5 images or examples of recent projects with short descriptions. If you have relevant links to images and videos, please include them within these examples.
• An outline budget, indicative of primary areas of expenditure as you foresee them. We expect to see a realistic artist’s fee, to reflect that this is a time-intensive process.

Deadline for receipt of applications is 17.00 GMT Monday 22 August 2022. Please see the guidelines document for further details and the full application procedure.

Applicant Supports

The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create aim to make the application process accessible to all. We provide supports to remove barriers for artist applicants to this commission. These may include translation from other languages or transcription of audio and video files. We will use all reasonable endeavours to assist applicants eligible under the conditions of the commission. To find out more please contact Create (CreateHLGCommission[at]create-ireland.ie) at least 3 weeks in advance of the closing date. If you feel your needs are not outlined here, please contact us and we will do our best to support you.