Civic Media Lab 2017 
2nd edition “Free speech! Free action!” 
Dnipro, Ukraine, June 3-11, 2017

OPEN CALL FOR ARTIST PROPOSALS 

Application deadline: April 23, 2017
Kultura Medialna announces an open call for artists for participation in the 
second edition of the project Civic Media Lab “Free speech! Free action!” that 
will take place in June 2017 in Dnipro, Ukraine. The project offers selected 
participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, 
Russia and Ukraine a residency opportunity for conducting artistic research and 
creating new works and projects. All works will be presented at the annual 
international festival of audiovisual art and new media in urban space 
“Construction” conducted by Kultura Medialna in June 2017. 
                                        
Civic Media Lab is an ongoing project initiated in 2016 as a vibrant 
transregional network of artists, curators, researchers and activists from EU 
and former USSR countries for creating unconventional dialogue and stimulating 
long-term collaborations between art and culture professionals interested in 
contributing to the civil society in the countries of the Eastern Partnership 
and Eastern Europe. 

The theme of the second edition of Civic Media Lab is freedom of media and 
expression in transforming societies. In the era of information wars, 
‘alternative facts’, expansion of multiple propagandistic discourses and 
increase of censorship in the arts at the global level, we want to gather 
artistic practices and stimulate artistic projects that deal with freedom of 
speech and expression on many levels and help connecting artists from different 
countries despite the political tensions between and within them. The project 
“Free speech! Free action!” represents an alternative broadcasting channel and 
a space for reflection upon current sociopolitical issues important for all the 
participants - from equal human rights to freedom of press, from the role of 
art in a society in transition to resistance against the challenging of 
democratic regimes. “Free speech! Free action!” serves as an expanding platform 
for communication, exchange and cutting-edge artistic, activist and curatorial 
practices dealing with the subject of free media and information in the public 
realm including the virtual space. Dnipro, the largest city near the zone of 
the military conflict in Ukraine, was chosen as a location for the project 
deliberately. By inviting artists to work closely with the city’s local context 
we encourage connections between different people that we believe should remain 
in touch despite the political contradictions and manipulative media 
narratives. 

Civic Media Lab invites artists working with different medium (video, media, 
sound) and formats (interactive installations, public performances) to submit 
their proposals. Eight selected participants will be invited to work on the 
realization of their projects in Dnipro, Ukraine during short-term residencies 
(up to 10 days) in May and June 2017. Created projects will be presented at the 
“Construction” festival that will take place in Dnipro from June 3 to 11, 2017. 
We are especially encouraging proposals exploring and testing new aesthetic and 
conceptual approaches in digital art and public spaces. 

In addition to residencies Civic Media Lab will also organize workshops and 
artist talks as well as a symposium, where a wide specter of emerging artistic 
and curatorial practices dealing with physical and virtual public space will be 
discussed. 

Civic Media Lab covers:
- travel costs to Dnipro (optional two times)
- subsistence costs (guest flat during the residency before the festival, and 
guest flat during the festival plus per diem)
- residency and artist fee (approx. 550 EUR)
- production and material costs (up to 650 EUR)

Participating artists are expected to:
- Create a new piece on site in Dnipro during a 10-day residency in May or June 
(dates will be discussed with each participant separately)
- Present your project at the CONSTRUCTION FESTIVAL (between June 3rd and 11th) 
- Participate in artist talks, public discussions and the final symposium

Eligible Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, 
Russia and Ukraine
                                        
To apply please submit your application to: submission2...@civicmedialab.eu

Application form can be downloaded here:
http://civicmedialab.eu/2017/#cfpcml

CML 2017 “Free Speech! Free Action!” is co-curated by Maria Veits and Stephan 
Franck.

Maria Veits is an independent curator and researcher, cofounder of the Creative 
Association of Curators TOK. TOK conducts multidisciplinary research-based 
projects dealing with concept and use of public space, urban communities, 
social practice, media and collaborations between arts and social sector. Maria 
currently works on an exhibition ‘Dreamland Never Found’ for Jerusalem Biennial 
and continuation of the project ‘Propaganda News Machine’ that will take place 
in summer in Helsinki 2017 and other projects dealing with current 
sociopolitical processes. She contributed to the CML 2016 as invited curator 
and speaker. Lives and works in St Petersburg and Tel Aviv. 

Stephan Franck is a Dresden based curator and creative consultant. He has 
worked since 2008 in the field of curating, publishing and consulting. He is 
co-founder of the Galerie Stephanie Kelly in Dresden and has contributed to 
CYNETART 2015 as artist director and curator. In 2016 he has organised the 
exhibition “potnia theron. the animal in art and science” in cooperation with 
University of Technology in Dresden. He also contributed last year in Civic 
Media Lab as both as an expert and curator. 


[ #CivicMediaLab #CivilSocietyCooperation #constructionfest #kulturamedialna ]

Civic Media Lab is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, and 
cooperatively organized by Kultura Medialna Dnipro & DS-X.org | depart.

further links:
[ http://civicmedialab.eu ]
[ http://constructionfest.com ]
[ http://kulturamedialna.org ]
[ http://depart.one ]

Civic Media Lab was initiated in 2016 by cultural managers Cornelia Reichel, 
Barbara Bernsmeier, Kathrin Oerters & Clemens A. Schöll, and Thomas Dumke.
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