Nothing to Declare

Call for Proposals: NOTHING TO DECLARE - Manila, October 2011

We are initiating an independent project entitled Nothing to Declare, an International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Manila, Philippines from 25 October to 25 November 2011 with the possibility of traveling the exhibition to select countries in 2012 and 2013. Nothing to Declare will host a roster of international and local artists. We will also organize teachers’ training workshops, artist talks and group discussions as satellite activities to the program.

In brief, Nothing to Declare revolves around the following interrelated themes:
1. Shifting geographies emerging from diasporas, migrations, overseas work
2. Shifting identities arising from movement, mobility, displacement, exchange; implying a sense of rooted-ness and slippage, identification and estrangement, familiarity and alienation, entitlement and distance
3. Shifting spaces, connoting not just physical relocation, but mental and spiritual dis/position, as well as dislocations, gaps and silences that take place in immediate, virtual and hyper-realities
4. Shifting positions, implying an appreciation of difference and a willingness to dialogue, work together, listen and engage.
5. Shifting power relations, connoting multiple flows and streams of choices, constraints, control and conditions of creation, dissemination and reception
6. Shifting possibilities, connoting transformations and breaking grounds where marginality - of having nothing to declare - IS source of intervention and strength, of loss as well as triumphs

To participate in Nothing to Declare, please send us a proposal of, (preferably recent) artwork you would like to show OR a proposal for new work you will make and would like to exhibit. Include medium resolution (75-100 dpi) photographs or drawings to illustrate your proposal including installation requirements, size of the artwork, medium, etc. Email proposals to [email protected] by the deadline on 30 August 2010. For video works, please limit works to only single channel, and since video projection on screens are limited to availability, please allow works that can be displayed on LCD and/or on screen

For photography, works should be printed on aluminum without frames or mount on foam. Selected artists will be invited to come to Manila. Traveling expenses costs for shipping and insurance of the artworks and minor living expenses will be borne by the artists. We will host accommodations and some meals from 22 October to 7 November 2010.

For inquiries, please contact: Josephine Turalba, [email protected]
For more information: http://www.transartinstitute.org/collective.html