Pilot Project 3: Arts for Future
The «Arts for Future» pilot project supported cultural projects that address the topics of climate change and sustainability in a transdisciplinary way.
Climate change is a challenge for society as a whole. Art and culture can provide impetus, stimulate reflection, raise awareness, provoke debate and prompt a transformation. They are of huge importance to society in tackling the global climate crisis. At the same time, art and culture are themselves required to question their working methods and production processes. That is why Stadt Zürich Kultur was placing art and sustainability at the centre of a pilot project.
The «Arts for Future» pilot project supported cultural projects that address the topics of climate change and sustainability in a transdisciplinary way. The projects should apply sustainability in their working methods, production processes or event formats, or alternatively should illustrate artistically sustainable ideas and approaches for our society. A combination of both was also possible.
We were looking for teams, groups or cooperations of cultural practitioners and creatives from the city of Zurich who develop and implement projects with climate activists and experts in a transdisciplinary way. In order to encourage the creation of teams from different disciplines and the exchange of project ideas, a matchmaking event has taken place at the Impact Hub Zurich on 15 June 2022.
The call for proposals ran until 15 September 2022 and a total of 31 projects were submitted.
Stadt Zürich Kultur was very pleased that the call for entries met with such lively interest. In general, it is welcome that so many cultural practitioners, but also other funding institutions and initiatives, are addressing the issue of sustainability. The submissions were very diverse and included projects from the visual arts, classical music, pop music, literature, performing arts and (speculative) design. Thanks to this opening up of disciplines, the discussion in the jury, which was composed of interdisciplinary members and had to compare very different approaches, was correspondingly interesting. In accordance with the call for entries, all the teams were transdisciplinary.
The jury praised the committed attitude of the submissions. The winning applications are all dialogic projects that intend to have an impact outside the usual «cultural audience».
A total funding amount of 215 000 Swiss francs was available in this pilot project. On the recommendation of the five-member jury «Kultur Labor Zürich» awarded seven grants of between 15 000 and 45 000 Swiss francs in October 2022.
Co-Habitations: 45 000 Swiss francs
Association WE ARE AIA - Awareness in Art with Martina Marthaler, Alexandra Eichenbauer, Carolina Brunelli in collaboration with Violeta Burckhardt, Ishita Chakraborty, Maurice Maggi, Maya Minder, Guillaume Habert, Raphael Portmann from Zürich.
The central idea of Co-Habitations revolves around the question «What will the city look like in 100 years?» And «How will our lives change due to climate change?» Through a transdisciplinary team of artists, scientists, curators, ecologists, architects and many other participants, the project creates an awareness to question and rethink our relationship as a society to the environment.
www.weareaia.ch
Fintopia: 45 000 Swiss francs
Miriam Nietlispach, Marie Claire Graf, Tom Stäubli, Massimo Calamassi from Zürich, Aarau and Gelterkinden.
With Fintopia, the initiators create space and time to experience and discuss a regenerative value system. The core of Fintopia is an artistic temporary space. Installations, illustrations, texts, videos, performances and above all interactions with the audience are planned. How money and economy could work in a desirable future is to be made visible and experienced here.
www.cerca.design
Blumenfeld am Fluss: 35 000 Swiss francs
Association Störfaktor*innen: Anna Albisetti, Jafar Rezai, Piero Good, Franziska Matter, Anna Isler from Zürich.
Together with refugees from the Federal Asylum Center BAZ, the association Störfaktor*innen wants to cultivate a natural flower field in the "Garden by the River". The garden is intended to be a meeting place as well as a place of recreation. The flowers can be picked by the refugees free of charge. The initiators see their project both as a commentary on the climate crisis as a reason to flee as well as an effective measure against the heating up of the city.
Resonanzen für Protest und Utopie: 25 000 Swiss francs
Matthias Roth, Melanie Katz, Anja Gada, Onna Stäheli, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Charlotte Kukowski from Zürich.
The initiators are writing texts with teenagers and young adults in a participatory form about the psychological handling of the climate crisis. Out of these texts they will develope a libretto and compose a choral work from it. The work is to be performed with 200 singers at various locations in the city of Zurich.
www.matthias-roth.ch
Spekulative Reportagen: 25 000 Swiss francs
Stephan Hartmann, Jeannie Schneider (Think & Do Tank Dezentrum), Samuel Eberenz, Gina Müller, Manuel Stark, Anna Sophie Dreussl from Zürich and Berlin.
Three speculative reports will be produced in collaboration with journalists, climate researchers and climate activists. The initiators want to create images of the future that are comprehensible and not abstract forecasts that defy the imagination. In this way, they want to promote the ability to think proactively about possible futures.
www.dezentrum.ch
Tasty Future: 25 000 Swiss francs
Daniel Hellmann, Alexandra Gavilano and Zoé Kilchenmann from Zürich.
Tasty Future supports players in Zurich's cultural scene in making a sustainable gastronomic offering in the cultural sector throughout the city.
www.tastyfuture.ch
Blue December Calender: 15 000 Swiss francs
Linnéa Racine, David Jegerlehner, Martina Wyrsch, Gina Corti, Lora Davies Sommer, Laeticia Blättler, Caroline Froelich and Studio Sirup from Zürich and Basel.
The «Blue December Calendar» is a musical and visual Christmas calendar on the Internet. Every day, a song by different musicians will be published together with a visual animation. In addition, videos and an event will sensitize both musicians and consumers to the issue of sustainability in the music industry.
www.decembercalender.net
The pilot project in detail
We are looking for cultural projects that address sustainability in their content and/or that apply, create or test sustainable working methods, production processes or event formats.
Possible topics for projects could include:
- Utopias, visions and scenarios
- Cultural change and the future viability of society
- Future models of consumption, mobility, work/lifestyle, nutrition and use of resources/energy
Aspects of sustainable working methods, production processes or event formats could include:
- Future and sustainable event formats
- Resource-efficient production (e.g. use of sustainable materials, recycling or shared pools of material)
- Implementation of circular economy concepts
The examples listed here are given merely as possibilites; you are welcome to go with your own ideas!
The maximum amount awarded to a project is 50,000 Swiss francs; the minimum amount is 10,000 Swiss francs. A total funding amount of 120,000 Swiss francs is available in this pilot project.
The supported projects must be implemented in Zurich by the end of 2023 and be open to the public.
Stadt Zürich Kultur will invite all applicants to participate in an exchange of experiences to promote sustainability and knowledge transfer.
Stadt Zürich Kultur provides funding for transdisciplinary teams, groups or cooperations (hereafter referred to as teams). The following three areas must be represented in the composition of the teams:
- Cultural practitioner/creative
- Climate activist from the Fridays for Future generation (or of another generation)
- Expert on climate change or sustainability (e.g. scientist, farmer, sociologist, forester, environmental engineer, technician)
A team must consist of at least two people and cover all three areas. The members of a team must be based in the City of Zurich. This criterion is formally fulfilled if at least half the members of a team reside in the City of Zurich. For example, if a team consists of 3 members, at least 2 of them must be residents in the City of Zurich.
A person formally is a resident in the City of Zurich if he or she:
- has a residence in the City of Zurich or
- his/her professional activity mainly takes place in the City of Zurich and he/she contributes to the cultural life of the city as a cultural practitioner or creative, to the social life of the city as a climate activist or to the scientific life of the city as an expert.
Rationale for the composition of the team:
«Cultural practitioner/creative»: the focus is on art and culture. All forms of art and culture are permitted. The projects should artistically demonstrate – as a work or process – ideas or sustainable approaches or make use of sustainable working methods, production processes or event formats.
«Climate activist from the Fridays for Future generation»: It is the younger generation that is urgently and loudly demanding action to combat the climate crisis. This pilot project aims at giving this group a voice and space to express their concerns and challenge the current cultural scene. Therefore, the participation of the younger generation is supported but the participation of other generations is possible as well.
«Expert on climate change or sustainability»: Firstly, expertise in this area is needed. Secondly, Stadt Zürich Kultur sees transdisciplinary cooperation as an opportunity for diverse teams to break new ground and create something new through discourse.
The following projects are not supported:
- Projects initiated as part of school, vocational training or further education projects (e.g. masters and bachelors theses)
- Commercial projects that do not require public funding
- Projects with discriminatory content (e.g. sexism, racism, glorification of violence)
- Projects that are not accessible to the public
- Projects that have already been implemented or projects that will not be implemented within the specified time frame (see «Dates and Deadlines»)
- Incomplete applications or applications not submitted in due time
The teams apply with an application. This application includes a project proposal and the CVs of the persons involved in PDF format. All documents can be submitted in German or English. Applications are only accepted electronically until 15 September 2022 via the online application entry system.
The project proposal (max. 8 A4 pages) should describe the content of the project and provide information about the planned implementation. The following points must be covered by the project proposal:
- (Working) title of the project
- Vision and aims of the project
- Motivation for the project
- Description of the content of the project including information on the sustainable working methods, production processes or event formats (if available)
- Team details: information on the roles of the project participants (list of participants with roles/responsibilities)
- Information on the target audience of the project
- A budget indicating the estimated costs and any income (if existing) as well as additional contributions requested or already promised
- Timetable for the implementation of the project
The submitted documents should enable the jury to assess the project on the basis of the questions listed in the selection process (point 2).
1. Cultural Affairs Office: verification of formal criteria
After the submission deadline, the Culture Affairs Office will check whether an application meets the formal criteria. All formal criteria must be met.
2. Jury: assessment of content-related criteria
All applications that meet the formal criteria will be assessed by a jury. The jury will assess the submitted project proposal on the basis of the following questions (content-related criteria). Not all questions have to be answered at the same time.
- What is the basis for the artistic quality or innovative character?
- What is the originality?
- What are the vision and aims of the project?
- What potential or what social relevance does it have?
- Which sustainable working methods, production processes or event formats are used?
- How is the team composed and how is the composition explained?
- Are the organisation and implementation of the project realistically planned and calculated?
- Who does the project reach and who is the audience?
The jury makes its recommendation to the Directorate of Culture.
Jury
| Michèle Bättig | Consultant in the fields of energy, climate and sustainability, Standpunkt21 GmbH, Zürich |
| Ursula Biemann | Artist, Member of the Steering Committee «Kultur Labor Zürich», Zürich |
| Martin Schick | Performer and Artistic Director of the bluefactory, Fribourg |
| Maya Tharian | Political Science Student, Climate Change Activist, Zürich |
| Daniela Weinmann | Musician and Member of the Board MDE Switzerland, Ennetbaden |
Dates
| 5 May 2022 | Publication of selection process |
| 15 June 2022 | Matchmaking (fully booked) |
| 15 June 2022 | Start of submission period (opening of the online application entry system) |
| 15 Sept 2022 | End of submission period |
| 7 October 2022 | Announcement of decisions |
| 31 December 2023 | Project implementation |
The «Arts for Future» pilot project receives support from the following organisations:
We are excited about your interest in «Arts for Future» and we are looking forward to your projects. Since this is a pilot project, many things are new for us as well. If you have any questions regarding our call for entry, we are here for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us via phone (+41 44 412 35 59) or our contact form.