Call for proposals for the Estonian Pavilion at the 60th Venice biennale

The Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art announces the open call for artists to represent Estonia at the 60th Venice biennale in 2024. The artists need to present a proposal which would introduce the main focus of the candidate’s previous works and express and explain the motivation behind the idea to work with a national pavilion’s project at the biennale.

Based on the proposals and portfolios, the international jury will select artists to meet for a longer discussion, after which the final selection will be made. It is not needed to develop the future exhibition project or to confirm the exhibition team during the process of selection. The names of the jury will be confirmed as soon as possible and will be published on the CCA’s webpage. 

The selected artist will work forwards to create the exhibition project which will be developed into the Pavilion’s exhibition together with the CCA, if needed the team will be expanded, based on the needs of the project.

The Pavilion’s space will be selected together with the artist, taking into account the needs and budget of the project.

The names of the applicants will be confidential and the statements will not be published. Only the final selection will be public.

Terms of the open call
- The statements can be in free format, only artists are eligible to apply
- The applicant must be a physical person. The artist must be from Estonia or working in Estonian art scene
- The materials must be in English or in Estonian with English translation
- The proposal must be maximum 6000 characters long, expressing the main directions of the artist’s works, working method, and explanation and motivation why the artist is interested to exhibit at the Estonian Pavilion. In addition, artist’s portfolio and CV need to be presented, with a selection of works and project from at least last 5 years
- All the materials must be presented to the CCA (post@cca.ee or Vabaduse väljak 6, Tallinn) no later than on 18 September, 2022
- The proposals are evaluated by an international jury. The names of the jury will be confirmed on first chance (but not after the deadline) and will be published on CCA’s webpage. The members of the jury and their close connections are not allowed to take part in the open call. 

Criteria of evaluation
- The originality of the artistic practice, the international scope and the potential to be in dialogue with the international art scene
- The importance of the potential exhibition project in the Estonian art scene
- The experience and professional background of the applicant
- Personal motivation, willingness to work in a group and responsibility of the applicant

Legal relations
- The CCA is the main organizer of the Estonian Pavilion at the Venice biennale. The team of CCA conducts the organizational and technical part and takes part in the substantial preparation of the project
- CCA only announces to the public the final selection, accompanied by the jury’s statement. The names of the other applicants and the content of their applications are confidential. 
- The artist selected will work together with the CCA to complete the project. As the main organizer CCA has the right to develop the project and to find additional team members, based on the budget
- CCA has the right to make changes in the details of the project, if these can be justified objectively or are due to circumstances, not connected to the CCA
- The relationship between the artist and the CCA are established by a contract where the rights and commitments of the parties are shown.
 

Additional information
The final selection will be made by the end of 2022.

The International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, is the oldest and largest international art event. Estonia has been participating with a Pavilion since 1997. The commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion is Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art. The participation is funded by the Estonian Ministry of Culture. The 60th Venice biennale will take place from May to November, 2024.

More information (please contact after 8 August, 2022):
Maria Arusoo
The commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion
maria@cca.ee

Press contact:
Kaarin Kivirähk
Communication manager of the CCA
kaarin@cca.ee