Urban Festival UIT announces an open call for installations for the 2023 festival themed “Urban Pause”. The open call is mostly aimed at city-loving students of art and architecture , but everyone interested in experimenting with installations in public space is welcome to participate. 

 

The central theme “Urban Pause” focuses on the wastelands and voids of Tartu.The project hosts 7 artists and collectives from Estonia and abroad. In addition, there will be 3 installations selected through the open call. 

 

WHAT'S AN URBAN PAUSE? 

 

The installation programme “Urban Pause” deals with areas that are considered part of the city, but they stand out among the buildings and plots, as time seems to stand still there. Nature thrives, and one can see signs of city dwellers - meandering paths, spots for bonfires and gathering, as well as traces of four-legged friends. Usually, such areas are destined to be filled with real estate developments, but UIT asks: what is the value of these urban pauses just as they are?

 

In Estonia urban pauses have been studied by urbanist Eve Komp, whose master's thesis describes urban pauses as “places in transition that lie between two long-term situations. These are the places where the end of the old environment is near or has already arrived and where the new is yet to begin.” She adds that “Urban pauses offer opportunities to create cracks into the regular and habitual arrangements and bring out changes”. (Komp, 2014) One of such tools for creating cracks is the temporary activation of urban pauses through installations. Installations will be created to invite the audience to think about the role of such spaces in the city and they propose alternative uses.

 

There are few places in cities where there are no prescribed rules of conduct. Urban pauses are characterised by a certain freedom – they can be a fertile ground for free thought and action due to their untamed and isolated state. These are places where you play, sunbathe, stroll, tell stories and drink in secret. Since it is an uncontrolled urban space, each city dweller decides for themselves how they want to use this space. Freedom also governs the fauna, because urban pauses are often regularly neglected and ecologically diverse. We believe that our cities could have more wild nature as a counterbalance to the restraint of parks.

 

ABOUT PARTICIPATING

 

The open call is mostly aimed at city-loving students of art and architecture , but everyone interested in experimenting with installation in public space is welcome to participate. We invite those interested to think about the importance of urban pauses in our current time. At the same time, we encourage you to fantasise about what the alternative (interim)uses of these spaces could be. 

 

The installations should: 

- Invite residents to notice urban pauses

- Ask what is the value and meaning of such spaces

- Guide residents to think about how they would like to use these spaces

- Spread the idea of interim use

- Notice the ecological diversity of these areas

- The work should have a function for the city dweller, they should engage the residents in some way

 

The project will be realised as a temporary installation in public space. The approach to the installation is open to interpretation and can be cross-disciplinary, the installation will be exhibited during the festival week (16.-19.08.2023). Festival encourages the use of recycled materials and other environmentally friendly solutions. 

 

Please send your idea and portfolio by June 22, 2023: festival@uituituit.ee

 

The application should include:
- description of the idea

- (draft of) the budget

- description of the technical realisation

- possible location(s) of the installation or description of the location needed

- contact and portfolio/CV of the author(s)

 

The project should be:
- interactive

- inventive

- functional

- well fitted into its environment 

- realised by the author(s)

- with a realistic budget

The festival offers an artist fee for the participants (1400€) and covers production costs (up to 1400€) in addition to compensating transportation and accommodation. UIT will select three ideas to be realised during the festival (two from Estonia, one from Europe). The project is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

 

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URBAN FESTIVAL UIT

Urban Festival UIT is a site-specific interdisciplinary art festival located in Tartu, Estonia. The eighth edition of UIT is taking place from the 16th until the 18th of August 2023. Throughout the years UIT has been interested in the ways people perceive cities and interact with their surroundings. The festival encourages people to use and enjoy public spaces and to contemplate on how we can all contribute to creating cities that are more cosy and diverse. The festival programme includes pieces that are either composed for or derived from the urban space of Tartu: performances, concerts, urban tours and games, including activities for children.