This is an open call to invite independent art practitioners from Wales and India working in the spectrum of music, theatre and literature to be a part of Intercut Labs, a project devised by Wales Arts Review and Meta Arts with support from Producer and Consultant Kate Perridge.
COVID-19 has hit hard around the world, affecting the way we all live our lives, and the arts, culture and creative economy has been hit hardest. Whilst here in Wales we have been emerging from lockdown, we have watched in shock as the crisis in India has escalated and devastated the country. This project will bring together a group of like-minded individuals and collectives working between Wales and India to offer an outlet to artists trying to emerge from the crisis.
Intercut Labs is an eight-month online research project which will see six artists from Wales and India work together to create a theatre production for thirteen to seventeen-year-olds by reimagining written materials created for young people in both countries. Selected artists will be placed in three virtual labs presented by arts institutions across India: Littlei in Kolkata will administer the music lab, Kaivalya Plays in Delhi will administer the theatre lab, and Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation in Leh will administer the literature lab.
The project aims to understand how cross-cultural incubation in the arts can be devised. We’re keen to understand the important role online labs can play in propelling innovation. By encouraging artists across boundaries and time zones we hope they can learn from each other in devising a single outcome through an interdisciplinary approach. We’re also interested in learning how a full-scale arts product with physical interfaces can be fully developed through the prism of online gatherings.
Below is a detailed outline of the project’s expectations, encounters, timelines, honorarium, selection criteria and application process.
Expectations
- Six artists from Wales and India (three from each country) working in music, theatre or literature will be brought together to research ancient texts, folk tales, narratives, records, adaptations or illustrated publications created for thirteen to seventeen-year-olds living in these two countries. Using their interpretations, they will create an interdisciplinary theatre production to be shown to young audiences across festivals and venues in both countries.
- The broader intent of Intercut Labs is to help establish long-term conversations between artists from Wales and India where they can freely share knowledge of each other’s practice and skills and explore the possibilities to collaborate in future.
- Mental health and individual identities are priorities for Intercut Labs. All three labs will offer a safe space for the six artists to work with each other towards developing the intent of the project.
- The artists will be part of three engagements drawn out for Intercut Labs:
— consultations with everyone involved in Intercut Labs
— peer studios featuring the two sets of artists assigned to their art forms
— a digital showcase, where an invited audience from Wales and India will convene to meet the artists and learn about their journey through Intercut Labs. Each artist, individually or within a pair, will present a small performance piece as a response to represent their experience of the project. - All engagements will be recorded for internal documentation and project assessment. The footage from the peer studios and consultations will be used to make a film on the project and screened at the digital showcase in March 2022. Due consent and approval will be taken from all collaborators prior to the documentation.
Encounters
- Seven sessions of project consultations in total (monthly).
- Twenty-eight peer studio sessions in total (hosted weekly).
- The working language of Intercut Labs will be English, but the open calls will reach out to artists working with different vernaculars in Wales and India.
Timeline*
- 9 July to 8 August: Intercut Labs Open Call in Wales and India
- 23 August: announcement of the selected artists
- 30 August 2021 to 29 Feb 2022: Intercut Labs research project
- 13 March 2022: Intercut Labs Digital Showcase
*Any changes in the timeline will be communicated to everyone in advance
Honorarium
- An honorarium of GBP 750 (/INR equivalent) will be offered to each artist for Intercut Labs.
- The honorarium will be transferred to the bank accounts of the respective artists in three instalments.
Selection criteria
- Intercut Labs is open to all Welsh and Indian artists currently living in their respective countries.
- The project seeks writers, illustrators, publishers, journalists, musicians, sound designers, composers, actors, dramaturgs, playwrights and other professional artists who are willing to embark on a project that is interdisciplinary, intercontinental and interconnected.
- The Indian artists selected for the music and theatre labs can be based anywhere in India, whilst the artist working in the literary arts spectrum should be based in Ladakh.
- The artists must have at least five years of experience of working within their discipline.
- The artists must have had some experience of working with young people between ten and eighteen years of age.
- Preference will be given to artists who have created works from scratch, have a background of drawing detailed research for their projects, are experienced in working with multiple artists on one single initiative and can work well to timelines.
- We invite applications from artists across all genders, economic and social backgrounds and sexual orientations.
Application process
Applicants will be asked to respond to the following:
- Please select your discipline (literature, music, theatre).
- Tell us about you and your practice in general (200 words).
- How would you contribute to Intercut Labs and how would your presence impact the project?
- Talk to us about your latest work and how that continues to impact the lives of the young people involved.
- Give us an example of having worked with multiple artists on a project. What were/are the outcomes of that collaboration?
- For Indian artists — Are you interested in collaborating with a peer from Wales? Tell us why.
- For Welsh artists — What are your motivations to work with a peer from India and why?
- Please upload three work samples (accepted formats are videos published on YouTube/Vimeo/Dailymotion with their passwords, digital copies of scripts/project plans, images, website links, social media accounts, images of your work and reviews/responses from people you have worked with).
- Share with us names of two references, their contact details and outline your relationship with them.
Applications for Intercut Labs must be submitted by 8th August 2021. Submit your application here.
The Intercut Labs project is proudly supported by Wales Arts International and British Council in Wales and India as part of their Connections to Culture Programme.
