We Only Want the Earth 2023 – Residency Award

A4 Sounds in partnership with and Create and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) invite applications from artists who are trans,nonbinary, and gender nonconforming, for a five-month residency award as part of the We Only Want the Earth 2023 programme. The residency will run from July to November 2023. The residency opportunity aims to support an artist based in Ireland to develop their arts practice.
Deadline: 5pm, Sunday 21st May 2023

About We Only Want the Earth

The context for We Only Want the Earth is ongoing, unpredictable social change. The neoliberal order and the unipolar system of US hegemony are collapsing. Climate change is accelerating, and alongside it eco-fascism and “lifeboat ethics” are growing in Europe and elsewhere. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the crises of inequality and homelessness. We are living through Gramsci’s interregnum: the old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. New opportunities for radical social change present themselves, but they are accompanied by reactionary violence that seeks to return to an imagined idyllic past. In this context, deliberative and discursive arts practices are urgently needed.
We Only Want the Earth is a yearly programme of awards, exhibitions, and events that seeks to interrogate the goals and strategies of social change: what kind of society do we want and how should
we get there?

About the award

The purpose of the award is to support the research and development of new, ambitious, and critical work that resonates with the themes of the We Only Want the Earth Programme. This award will support an artist who is trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming to research and develop a body of work at the A4 Sounds Studios and help them further develop their artistic practice. The award will provide the selected artist with material support and an opportunity to work collaboratively with the curatorial team to develop their ideas and skills, experiment with materials and approaches in making new work, foster new relationships with communities and or collaborators, and to deepen their understanding and approach to their practice. Please note: the artist is free to work on any topic of their choosing; there is no requirement that the work deal with issues of gender identity. Proposals must respond to the theme ‘We Only Want the Earth’.

What the award involves

The award includes:
• Free 24-hour access to a studio space at A4 Sounds.
• A monthly stipend of €1,500 towards materials and residency costs (Total €7,500).
• Access to a range of professional development, training and technical supports.
• Access to the facilities at A4 Sounds, including personal and shared workspace, sculpture workshop, photography darkroom, printing suite and equipment.
• Access to all A4 Sounds public workshops and courses for the duration of the residency.
• Opportunities to experiment with ways to disseminate their work in public
Throughout the residency, advice and mentorship will be provided by A4 Sounds and representatives from Create, Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and our consulting artists gender.RIP & Áine O’Hara.
Please note: this residency does not include accommodation as part of the award.

Aims & Expectations of the Residency

The selected artist is expected to:
• Be available to work from the studio for the duration of the residency at least 3 days per week
• Participate in studio life and take full advantage of resources and learning opportunities available.
• To be available to meet with the programme producer monthly to discuss their work and receive feedback and advice.
• To be available to meet with mentoring partners and consulting artists monthly to discuss their work and receive feedback and advice.
• To be fully engaged with their practice and spend time developing their ideas and understanding of the themes in the proposed work.
• To develop new work across a five-month period*
• We will work with the successful artist to document their progress and ask that aspects of the documentation be made available to A4 for use.
*Artists who engage fully in the residency to take full advantage of the supports offered may apply to our exhibition awards in 2024 with the work produced on residency.

Who is eligible?

We invite applications from artists who are trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming, who are currently based in Ireland.
Due to the significant workload of the residency, artists who are currently in full-time undergraduate or post-graduate education cannot apply.
Please note: Due to the high rental costs and difficulty securing accommodation in Dublin this award may be best suited to someone who currently lives in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath or Louth. We welcome applications from outside these areas but please let us know on your application form how you will manage your accommodation and/or travel to Dublin.

What types of proposals are we seeking?

We invite radical, risk taking, bold, mischievous, and political proposals. This is a visual arts award, but we welcome proposals from artists with multidisciplinary approaches. We are keen to hear from artists who use a wide range of approaches to explore their ideas; including but not limited to: socially engaged, collaboration with communities, collaboration with artists, protest, organizing, writing, sound, conversation, food, performance, video, media, sculpture, research, installation and print.

How can I apply?

Please read more about the application process on A4 Sounds’ website.

A4 Sounds is a non-profit artist-run workspace and gallery in north-inner-city Dublin. It is one of the biggest artist-led spaces in Ireland, currently providing facilities and professional development supports to 80 artists. Its mission is to transform the means by which cultural works are produced, accessed, and understood in Ireland, and by doing so to contribute to the development of a more just society. Guided by feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and LGBT-inclusive politics, A4 Sounds supports artists and activists who fight for change.

TENI is a non-profit organisation supporting the trans community in Ireland. Their vision is a world where all people regardless of gender identity or expression, enjoy full acceptance, equality and human rights. Their mission is to advance the rights and equality, and improve the lives of trans people and their families. TENIs goals are to be a strong, sustainable organisation created by trans people for trans people. They work so that trans people are able to access all the services they need and for those services to be trans friendly and inclusive. They aim for trans people to be celebrated, valued and enjoy the freedoms and opportunities to thrive and to work towards a society free from discrimination, transphobia and oppression.

gender.RIP is a trans-led, anti-capitalist collective of artists ready to kill gender. Known for their exhibitions, community events, and workshops which centre joy and creativity; they aim to carve out trans-centred leisure spaces which are an oasis from the wider world. Their events are open to anyone who is trans, nonbinary or gender non-conforming; who exists outside of the western gender binary; or who is gender-questioning.

Áine O’Hara is an award-winning visual artist, theatre maker and facilitator focused on creating exciting and vulnerable work for and about people who are often left out of traditional art and
performance spaces. Áine wants to create work which uplifts and supports disabled and chronically ill artists and audiences. Her work has toured nationally and internationally and they have shown work across the U.K and Europe. In 2020 they were the recipient of A4 Sounds ‘We Only Want the Earth Project’ award which culminated in a solo show ‘The Patient will see you now’ at the gallery in December 2020. Áine was awarded the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council in 2022 and recently received the Radical Spirit Fringe Festival Award for “The Rest Rooms” a Festival programme and space that celebrated disabled joy and rest as resistance.

We Only Want the Earth is kindly supported by The Arts Council’s Arts Grant Funding 2020 – 2022