Call for Submissions: Bent on Art Festival

What: Bent On Art: Kootenay Queer & Trans Art Exhibition

When: Kootenay Pride Week, August 26th-September 1st 2019

Where: Kootenay Studio Arts, Selkirk College, Nelson, BC

Application Deadline: May 31st 2019 at 5 PM, PDT

Bent On Art: Kootenay Queer & Trans Art Festival is seeking submissions from LGBTQ+ artists in the Kootenay Region or with significant connection to the region in response to the following theme:

How do queer and trans/gender non-conforming people find home? How do we feel at home inside our bodies, sexualities, gender identities and expressions? How do we create a sense of home in our communities? How do we create reconcile the paradox of creating home, while living on stolen native land? How do we find home inside bodies, genders, and sexualities that have been subjugated by colonial values? How can we build on our commonalities while supporting our differences?  How can we support people that are the most marginalized within the LGBTQ+ community? As artists, how do we find inspiration from others without appropriating other cultures or aesthetics? How do we identify and challenge our own internalized oppressions? How do we foster interdependence in a society that reveres independence and individualism? How do we honor & support the people who’s land we occupy?

Queer and trans/gender non-conforming artists are invited to reflect and respond to these questions with works of visual art, craft, and/or performance. This exhibition has the intention to pay artist fees, pending funding. Artists who are also indigenous, black, people of colour, people with disabilities, neuro-diverse, or artists with other intersecting identities within the LGBTQ+ community are strongly encouraged to apply. Don’t miss your opportunity to take part in this important community conversation!

1. Complete the online application form
2. Include an Artist Statement of 500 words or less, indicating how your work reflects the theme of Creating Home: Claiming What’s Ours, Dismantling What’s Left, and a short proposal outlining what your artwork would consist of and any technical requirements needed for installation
3. Submit 5 to 10 images (a maximum of 1 MB file size each jpeg format with a resolution of 72 dpi at 1024 x 768 pixels) of the work intended for exhibition or related/recent work, or equivalent media files
4. Image List with image numbers, artist name, title of work, date, medium and dimensions.
5. For video or film, email direct links or mail a DVD related to your proposal in .avi, .mov, .mpg, or .mpeg format. Do not send video files electronically. To submit a hard copy, contact the project coordinator for a mailing address