Call for Submissions 2008

The Festival is seeking proposals from artists working in all visual arts practices who wish to be considered for the Visual Arts Trail.

Possible venues throughout the town include shop units/windows, pubs, banks, cafes, a hospital, the Birr Union Workhouse and the courtyard and grounds of Birr Castle. Artists must undertake their own research and site visits. Details of the artists preferred venue and display can be outlined in the proposal. Once successful, the artist and curator will site the work together.

The theme: 'about 100 experiments'.

'about 100 experiments' is the title of a report by Charles Parsons on the results of his attempts to create 'artificial diamonds'. A costly pursuit and described as 'the senseless pursuit of a chimera' in his biography 2 years following his death. At the time it may have seemed like an absurd activity that he was engaged in, but since then his objectives have been fully realized. As a curator it is Parson's tireless spirit in the pursuit of invention that interests me. The science museum on the grounds of the estate at Birr Castle is my starting point for this site specific project.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 18 April 2008.

Submissions should include: a short proposal (max 500 words), a CV and 5 -10 images of recent work on disk (jpeg or tiff format) or photographs. Please note that only submissions with an enclosed SAE will be returned.

Postal submissions should be sent to: Emma Nee Haslam, Secretary, Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival, 16 Parkrise, Birr, Co. Offaly.

Email eilislavelle@gmail.com for further information or email submissions.