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Open Call: Museumnacht 2024


Fries Museum

Wilhelminaplein 92, 8911 BS Leeuwarden


di, 21 mei 2024 / ma, 24 jun. 2024


Open Call: Museumnacht 2024

saturday, september 28: a garden against time

On Saturday 28 September, the third edition of Museumnacht FRL will take place. The Fries Museum, together with kunstinitiatief VHDG, will organise a unique exhibition-for-1-night at surprising locations in the museum during this museum night. For this event, VHDG and the museum are writing a joint open call for artists from different disciplines who live and/or work in Fryslân and want to be part of this nightly programme. Will you participate too? Read on!

Are you a visual artist, performance artist, do you work with video or sound, or have you designed an interactive art workshop and are you eager to show this to a large, diverse audience in Friesland? Then take part in this open call by Kunstinitiatief VHDG and the Fries Museum. Look for the conditions at the bottom of this page. This open call is for everyone, from experienced artists with, or without training, to young makers and recent graduates.

a garden against time

The theme of the Open Call is ‘a garden against time’ after the book by writer and critic Olivia Laing. In her book, she presents different interpretations of the garden: from a safe haven to a place of rebellion. A place to temporarily escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life to a place of rebellion and impetus for new ways of living together. In a garden, time can stand still, but these places also carry a promise: an investment in the future, through care, attention and time – he who sows, will reap. A garden is a privilege for some, a necessity for others. A place for dreams and for experimentation. It touches on themes such as urban greening, climate change, the categories into which humans classify nature, leisure, seasons, foreign and indigenous, desirable and undesirable plants and flowers. The artworks submitted each in their own way depict the idea of a garden and experience of time: about the past, present and future of our outdoor life, private and public.

museumnacht frl

On Saturday 28 September 2024, Frisian museums will open their doors for the only provincial museum night in the Netherlands, Museumnacht FRL. Again this year, museums and various other cultural institutions are collaborating to encourage a younger target group to explore culture and museums. Besides the special atmosphere of a nocturnal museum visit, there will be a unique programme with music, performances, lectures and stories in museums throughout Fryslân.

practical

To participate in this exhibition, we ask you to submit the following:

  1. A clear description (max. 1 A4), with photo(s) or video(s) of your work.
  2. A short presentation plan (max. 3 A4). By this we mean ideas about the presentation during the museum night, the location and practical and technical requirements. Information about available locations can be found below. The final location will be determined in cooperation with the curators.
  3. A short motivation (max. 1 A4). Who are you? What is your link to Fryslân? And why is your project suitable for implementation at the museum?
  4. Any additional information that may be relevant to your participation.

location options

Several locations within the museum will be made available for the exhibition. The works can be shown at the following locations.

  • The facade of the building
  • Around the lift screen
  • Showcase on the first floor
  • Showcase on the second floor
  • Walk way from second to third floor
  • Showcase on the third floor

more information and conditions

The open call only applies to existing works that you will adapt where necessary for a presentation at the Fries Museum. A submission may consist of one or more artworks that together form a presentation, for example several paintings, a video work with performance, a sound artwork with an installation or a workshop with visual elements. The artists selected will receive an honorarium of €1530 with a production and expenses budget of €1000.

  • You can only apply with a digital file (a photo of your work, a video or a description of your performance or workshop) (JPG or PDF 300dpi) via opencall@friesmuseum.nl
  • Artists must be available on the day (28 September 2024) and a few days before for consultation and set-up.
  • Close of Open Call: 24 June 2024
  • Participants will be notified after 11 July 2024
  • Choice of materials is free.
  • By submitting your work, you give us permission – should you be selected – to use your work for communications around the night.
  • Please note: it is not possible to create entirely new work for this exhibition. We apply a fee according to artist fees guidelines.

After receiving the submissions, our curatorial team, consisting of Koen Bartijn, artistic director VHDG, Judith Spijksma, curator of modern and contemporary art Fries Museum, Josine Zuidema, programmer activities Fries Museum, Caya Emmelkamp, artist and winner of the previous edition of the open call and artist Michelle Samba will carefully assess the submissions and make a selection based on artistic quality, originality and relevance to the overarching theme of Museum Night.

The open call is made possible by the Alma-Tadema Circle of the Fries Museum.