New artist residency in Guwahati - A+type!

Desire Machine Collective
A+type : Call for Collaborations

A+type is a new initiative of Desire Machine Collective. The founding members of DMC are Sonal Jain and Mriganka Madhukaillya.

A+type

Keywords: Show your syndrome, space as medium, melancholy, relational, architecture, decadent, mind scape, stasis, mediate, media lab, living, reinterpreting space, eating, slacking, sleeping, changing, local, collaborations, community.



A+type, a new extension of desire machine collective, opens in March 2011. The A+type is an experiment in spatial imaginary with an objective to explore a typology of a contemporary cultural space that can create a social engagement which allows for a translocal exchange of knowledge, experiments and aesthetic experiences.

Location: A+type is situated near the bank of the river Brahmaputra in the city of Guwahati, which is a 1459.68 km away from New Delhi.

Desire Machine Collective is an artists’ collective committed to activating public spaces. A+Type reinvestigates the notion and use of space, in its common understanding. It is a durational project where an ‘Assam type’ house is opened up for people to interpret in their own ways. We make an open call for the project and accept proposals.
Participants are invited to come and live for a particular period of time in an “Assam type”, house and develop their practice in relation it. The British developed what is popularly called “Assam type" architecture as a hybrid form incorporating elements from the local indigenous architecture. These structures have become cultural markers of an era gone by and have a certain melancholy attached to them.
Participants receive a cognitive map, historical and personal background of the space and make an intervention. The duration is flexible and so are the envisaged "uses”. Residents are invited to explore and develop their individual or communal relationship to the space in terms its functional, social, architectural, historical and cultural aspects. They can choose to “use” the space as a residency, a studio, a screening space, to host talks, plays etc. Different residents constantly redefine the space and make for new interpretation of this perishing construct. Allowing for a renewed conversation on its place in history and the future.

This project initiates the process of reactivating these structures, documenting the design and history of the “Assam type” architecture and its use. The inhabitants themselves document and archive the house in creating a participatory-relational event. The project provides an opportunity to interact, experiment and work with local materials. Guwahati offers diverse inspirations as a cosmopolitan city located in the diverse region commonly referred to as the Northeast of India. The challenges of the project will encourage artists to move beyond the comfort of their studio spaces and work in new circumstances.

Since its inception in 2007, Periferry a project of desire machine collective has undertaken a number of projects dealing with hybrid practices. It has hosted many artists from diverse countries in its residency programmes, workshops, seminars and projects. It believes in fostering interactions between artists, curators, scholars, writers and young students in the local and global context. We collaborate, share and have interactions with the local artist community.

The A+type offers short duration projects and one month artist residency through out the year. While DMC welcomes any creative proposal, applicants are encouraged to first consider proposing engagement with the “Assam Type” house. We invite a letter of interest and a short proposal from interested people.

The A+type is intended for artists, designers, architects, curators, art critics, art historians and other practitioners. 
Residents can make works in the form of interventions, public performances, experimental audio-visual works and interdisciplinary and hybrid forms. Work produced will be exhibited, performed and shared in Guwahati during the residency period.

Founded
Periferry - 2007

Eligibility
artists, designers, architects, curators, art critics, art historians, writers, researches, filmmakers, scientists, and other practitioners from any country.

Expectation from the artist:
* One public lecture.
* Interaction with local art students.
* The residency ends with an open studio or exhibition.
* Season: Year-round.
* Average length of residency: 1 month
* Maximum number of artists at one time: 3
* Accessibility: Sorry, no wheelchair access at this time.
* Accommodation: Individual bedroom with shared bath, common kitchen facilities.

Facilities:
*Broadband Internet connectivity.
*Lots of open space for interaction and communal gathering.
*Food: kitchen and cooking facilities. Local restaurants conveniently located close by.
*Library and archive of books with a section on the Northeast India.

Chargeable costs:
*Housing and studio: 25$ per day / 550$ per month (payable in Indian Rupees at the time of arrival).
*Charges are subject to change, please verify current charges with us.
*Other expenses to be borne by the artists.

Funding:
*This is an artist-led space; no stipends or fellowships are available.

Selection:
*Made by co-ordinator by open calls or on the basis of recommendations by other artists
*Art assistants available on moderate fee.

Health
* Hospital and pharmacy within walking distance.
* Gardens / parks /river side for walks and relaxation within easy reach.
Note: We recommend that you obtain necessary vaccinations, preventive medical procedures and appropriate medical insurance before departing to India.

How to apply?
With a letter of interest and a short proposal
An application letter with the following sections:
1. Your contact information (name, telephone, address, email, website, etc)
2. Your letter of motivation, explicitly stating why you are interested in working with “A+Type” and what you would like to do.
3. Your project proposal - Your project proposal should answer the following questions:
i) What is the title of the proposal?
ii) What do you plan to make/do?
iii) What methodologies will you use?
4. Your supporting material
i) Resumé or CV
ii) URL of online portfolio or images and project descriptions in your application.
5. Additional information
i) When would you like to come?


-- Sonal Jain & Mriganka Madhukaillya

desire machine collective

www.desiremachinecollective.net
www.periferry.in