1st Antarctic Biennale of Contemporary Art launches open call

The 1st Antarctic Biennale of Contemporary Art has launched an open call for participants to take part in an expedition and create a unique art object representing their own vision of Antarctica.

Up to 30 videos will be chosen for the Antarctic Biennale cinema screening programme, which will take place onboard the Biennale expedition vessel, while the overall winner will join other artists onboard the polar research ship Akademik Ioffe in spring 2017 to complete their project. It is anticipated that the winning work will be re-installed or performed at an array of museums around the world after the exhibition.

The Antarctic Biennale’s commissioner is Russian artist, sailor, and philosopher Alexander Ponomarev, who first proposed the concept in 2011 and established the Venice Biennale’s first ever supranational pavilion — the Antarctic Pavilion — in 2014. 15 finalists will also be invited to participate in a group exhibition at the Antarctic Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Applications are sought from artists who will be 18–35 years on 1 May 2017 and work in any field of art (including installation, performance, video, and sound art). Technical requirements for art works can be found here. The deadline for applications is 3 October 2016.