Fluid Connections – Open Call for Emerging Artists & Thinkers

Fluctuations is looking for 5 people coming from any artistic field, or disciplines such as political sciences, philosophy, and ecology who are interested in a collaborative artistic process.

Fluctuations is a transnational boat festival wandering European rivers, to mobilize on social, environmental, and citizenship topics! At numerous stops, a riverboat stage – the festiboat – docks in cities. The riverbanks come alive with joy, music, art, assemblies, workshops, sustainable food court and a kids section inviting all participants to co-create a collective future. 

Fluctuations will go full scale with its own boat in 2025 but is partnering up with Urban Boat for 2024 for beta events. Fluid Connections residency will take place on the Urban Boat during, and between, these events, aiming to create a space of interdisciplinary co-creation and exchange, and their work will be showcased at the festival. Specifically, we are looking for residents available for a period 6th to the 13th of July, and 14th to the 21st of July -between the Festivals in Lille (6-7/07), Brussels (13-14/07), and Utrecht (20-21/07) and/or additionally around the Fluctuations Festival in Hungary (around Szolnok, from the 8th to the 14th of September). Residencies will be live-in on Urban Boat, most cabins contain a single bed and the bathroom is shared, food will be provided.

Selected residents will take part in preliminary online meetings/workshops at a time that suits the group during the months leading up to the residency. We believe that emerging artists need space and visibility and we want to support all those who participate in our residencies through creating an artistic community and offering networking opportunities following the events.

Our fluid concept for creation is the following, if you can connect to it, don’t hesitate to apply!

Rivers are moving bodies of water that weave like veins around the Earth. The river is in a constant state of movement and flow. We can look at it as what naturally separates or connects areas. Rivers are fluid borders. Rivers are flowing and soft, yet strong, and can influence and shape things of a more substantial material than themselves. Rivers shape the land, the rocks, and the caves. Rivers supply fresh water to still waters, ensuring that the ecosystem is maintained. Rivers are both stagnant and ephemeral. Rivers help different species to migrate, thus maintaining the existence of certain species. They provide mobility for humans, opening up pathways that would otherwise be inaccessible. 

The Fluid Connections residency invites its participants to be inspired by the nature of rivers in their work. The aim of our residency is to create an interdisciplinary collective artwork by artists and art enthusiasts from different disciplines. In this residency, we want to challenge the fluidity of the participants, encouraging them to dare to experiment and to dare to cross their own boundaries, to find in their diversity what can unite them. Find the fluidity between different artistic disciplines and be open to shaping each other’s artistic visions. To bring refreshing and innovative ideas to social arts like rivers are providing fresh water to the lakes and seas.

At the same time, rivers can provide an extraordinary range of themes relevant to socially and environmentally conscious living. Environmental issues, biodiversity, climate crisis, migration, borders, colonization, accessibility, mobility, rights of nature, hydrofeminism & gender fluidity, and social inequality are just some examples of the themes that can emerge in collaborative work. We believe that art can shape people’s thinking in the same way as rivers can shape the earth, that is why we think it is important to give space for artists to talk about topics that affect people’s lives.

How to apply?

• Fill in the registration form in English, Hungarian, French, or Dutch (English preferred).
• Submit 5 images to create a story on the theme Fluid Connections. The images will not be judged on quality or photographic skills, but on the idea they represent. Also, images can be self-made, downloaded from the internet, digitally generated or hand-drawn.
• Give a brief overview to what their involvement in Fluid Connections could be, this can be in text, storyboard or video format (we recommend a maximum of 1 page / 3 minutes of speech). 

The residency applicants will be selected by the Fluctuations festival team. Residency applicants will be evaluated through a two-stage selection process. The first step will be based on the work submitted and the application form, and the second step will be an interview with the selected individuals. 

Deadline to apply: 23.59 Sunday 14th April

Registration form: https://forms.gle/js89454teawTg1qB6

Questions: contact b.dibb@euroalter.com & vincefueg@gmail.com