The Institute of Contemporary Arts has teamed up with Dr. Martens to help support emerging artists with a new initiative that will provide £60,000 in production grants for new commissions in moving image and film.
The global pandemic has wreaked havoc across the cultural sector, closing organisations and venues and drastically reducing opportunities for aspiring British artists. In response, the ICA and Dr. Martens have teamed up to inspire creativity for artists living and working in the UK with a total of seven grants, with one artist set to receive a production grant of £30,000 and a further six grants of £5,000 supplemented by production support and mentoring.
As well as financial support, the initiative will also provide the winning artists with the opportunity to present their work as part of Image Behaviour 2021. Image Behaviour is central to the ICA’s decades-long commitment to the development of artist film with the likes of Derek Jarman, Steve McQueen and Matthew Barney to more recent works by the likes of James Richards, Metahaven and Martine Syms having featured in the programming.
Speaking about the initiative, Stefan Kalmár, Executive Director of the ICA, said: “We are experiencing one of the biggest paradigm shifts in society since 1946, the year of the ICA’s founding in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War.” Curator of Artists’ Films and Moving Image at the ICA, Steven Cairns, added: “The new opportunities made possible by this exciting new partnership are timely and much-needed by artists who are trying to break through in these challenging times. Dr. Martens’ serious commitment to the ICA’s Image Behaviour means that we are able to conceive an even more impactful programme with substantially more new commissions.”
If you’re a young creative interested in applying for the initiative, then the Image Behaviour Open Call is inviting you to submit your proposals now through to 30 March. Find out more on the scheme here.
