Emergency, hÅb's annual platform for live art and contemporary performance is now open for proposals.
Our twentieth Emergency takes place on Saturday 21 September, 12noon-10pm. This year it's a little bit different as it takes place in two locations: daytime (12-5pm approx) in Manchester's NIAMOS; and evening (5-10pm approx) in Z-arts (incl. STUN Studio).
The callout for proposals is open until Friday 9 August, 5pm.
With a whole range of spaces to fill — what we now need is a lots of great work!
Artists working in live art and contemporary performance are invited to submit proposals of short pieces of work, works-in-progress, or extracts of longer works for inclusion in this event.
For daytime work at NIAMOS we are looking for durational, performance installation, intervention and limited capacity and 1-2-1 work. Opened in 1902 and formerly a theatre, cinema, BBC recording studio and church, NIAMOS is now being run by a co-operative as a holistic well-being space. Please note, whilst very atmospheric, it is in significant state of disrepair, and a site-specific approach might be best taken when thinking about work for it. Wherever possible work should be low tech using domestic or battery powered equipment. Access is challenging.
We are particularly looking for a bigger durational piece that might work for the NIAMOS main auditorium/stage area (see info attached) and recognise this might need more resources. If you have an idea for this, please get in touch to discuss.
For evening work at Z-arts/STUN we are looking for short (20 min max) show-type work.
To get a feel for it, have a look at the 2018 programme + gallery of images.
Emergency is:• a pay-what-you-decide, public micro-festival + open submission platform;
• an opportunity for artists to meet, show, and peer-review work;
Work can be in any relevant artform/medium, though some live presence is desirable. Show-type work should be 20 minutes maximum in duration; low-tech or no-tech, and suitable for quick turnarounds; self-supporting in terms of props, set, equipment, and specialised technology.
As this seems to be a recurrent question: whilst we don't encourage it, you are permitted to submit more than one proposal but it is unlikely that more than one would be successful from a single artist/group.
Please note:• Emergency typically features at least 20 short pieces of work throughout the day/evening;
• our technology resources are limited, please bear this in mind when making a proposal;
• download the Emergency Open Call Guidance Notes (see attachment below);
• complete the Online Proposal form;
