OPEN CALL ALTOFEST 2024
10th-23rd June NAPLES
Artstic Residency + ProgramInternational Contemporary Live Arts Fest
GIVE RISE TO Human Regeneration
Created and Curated by TeatrInGestAzione
Artistic Direction – Gesualdi | Trono
Dramaturg – Loretta Mesiti
Invitation for proposals
[deadline extended 15th October 2023]
The artwork breaks into everyday life, allowing the poetic side of existence to emerge.
Altofest was born in 2011 as an act of resistance, both artistic and political. The aim is to GIVE RISE TO a community based on the “poetic citizenship” principle. It calls to dialogue all the social components of the human-urban fabric in which it is grafted. It acts as a semantic interference in everyday life, allowing inhabitants to speak to each other in a neutral language and meet in a shared risk space, daring together.
Altofest is a systemic live performance by Teatringestazione, extended in time and space, shared in the form of a festival with a heterogeneous collectivity, made up of artists, citizens and residents, researchers, scholars and experts in the cultural sphere, conscious and occasional spectators.
Teatringestazione composes the dramaturgy of Altofest by combining the proposals received through the call for proposals with the domestic spaces and its inhabitants, giving rise to a collective action spread across different parts of the city.
Altofest moves away from the function of mere “production” or “programming” of performances and artistic works, usually attributed to festivals, to become a space for experimental sociality. Citizens welcome international artists and authors from different disciplines, invited to question their completed works, in a public and collective way, through a translation process for the domestic space.
Through Altofest, we want to radically question ourselves on the need to generate new values constantly, to redesign the relationship with places, to subvert the conventional use of spaces and the established attribution of roles, to dare to cross borders (of gender, discipline, of competence, of action) that have never been attempted before.
That is why, when choosing proposals to send us, we invite artists to avoid being swayed by the thought of the work’s easy adaptability. On the contrary, Altofest’s opportunity is precisely that of experimenting and reworking the performance’s structure, essence and direction with the domestic place and the relationships that pass through and define it.
Application may include one or more original and finished works conceived for a formal space, already performed in front of an audience. Repertory or archived works that are to be reactivated are also eligible. The theme, content and duration are free. Proposals must belong to contemporary live art (theatre, dance, performance, experimental and interdisciplinary formats).
Incomplete performance projects or those still in the study or creation phase are excluded.
The artists are invited for an artistic residency to process the selected work. The work will then be open to the public during the programming days following the residency. The artist’s stay is required for the entire Altofest period, for two weeks (arrival on the 10th, departure on the 24th of June).
Altofest guarantees accommodation with the use of a kitchen, a production fee, and additional technical and human resources under the terms specified in the regulations on the website.
HOW THE SELECTION PROCESS WORKS
A composition process derived from carefully observing each proposal received, the aesthetic elements that compose it and the poetics that generated it. We attempt to exercise a gaze that does not dominate but welcomes the interrogative power of the individual proposals, as this is translated into the signs that recur in each one, allowing a unique composition of works to emerge that form the body of the 2024 edition’s question.
A question that imposes itself on our gaze, overcoming the distances and differences that distinguish the artists who respond to our call.
We then summarise this question in the dramaturgy that we complete by combining the chosen works with the residents who welcome the artists into the heart of their daily lives.
Finally, we hand over to this emerging community the task of cohabiting in the space of risk, a neutral and uncomfortable zone, which becomes the site of an unprecedented and shared language, which forms the basis of the dialogue between the inhabitants of the community of the ‘hovering city’ of Altofest, built on the principle of poetic citizenship.
HOW TO APPLY
Professional artists can apply worldwide without distinction among nationality, country of residence, language or age. Unfortunately, amateur groups cannot apply.
To apply, please READ the REGULATIONS and send proposals by completing the online form.
By filling in the form, you have read and unconditionally accepted the regulations attached to the call for proposals.
The online application is the only way to send artistic proposals for Altofest 2024.
For further information and questions:
+39 320 0304861 (whatsapp/telegram)
𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑶𝑭𝑬𝑺𝑻 is a project by teatringestazione.com
Altofest was born in Naples in 2011, conceived and curated by TeatrInGestAzione, directed by Gesualdi | Trono, in dialogue with Loretta Mesiti as dramaturg.
It was awarded by the EFA (European Festival Association) with the EFFE AWARD 2017-18 (Europe for Festivals Festivals for Europe), resulting in the six best European festivals among more than 715 candidates. 2018 was included as a best practice in the annual report “Io Sono Cultura 2018” (t/n, I am culture), edited by Symbola Foundation. Also 2018, the Italian Ministry of Culture awarded it with the “European Year of Heritage” label. Winner of the calls: Funder35 (2016); SIAE-Sillumina (2017); Allianz Kulturstiftung (2019). In 2018 Altofest left the borders of Naples for the first time, inaugurating a series of special editions commissioned by different European Capitals of Culture and international Institutions: Altofest Malta 2018 for Valletta 2018 ECoC; Altofest Matera-Basilicata 2019 for Matera 2019 ECoC; and on 2022 a re-edition for Valletta, commissioned by the Valletta Cultural Agency. It is also included in the Kaunas 2022 nomination dossier and Trenčín 2026’s bid book as Every Part Counts’ key project, acting as a de facto connector of a “spontaneous” network among the cities sharing this title. Furthermore, Altofest is an indicator of the cultural interest in Naples in the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor tool of the European Commission.
Altofest 2024 REGULATIONS
FOREWORD
A HUMAN-SPECIFIC PROJECT
The artwork breaks into everyday life, allowing the poetic side of existence to emerge.
Altofest is conceived as a systemic live performance shaped like a festival, engrafted into the socio-urban fabric in which it happens. It is built with the participation of residents, who host national and international artists in their homes for two weeks.
The houses become spaces for artistic creation during the residency days and subsequently places for programming open to the public, hosting works that are contemporary expressions of live art and authors experimenting with hybrid practices.
Altofest is a project of experimental sociality based on proximity, the gift, and mutual care. That gives birth to a direct connection between artist and resident citizen, inaugurating a dialogue on the deep meaning of hospitality, giving rise to human regeneration, and blending the intimate and public space. Moreover, it provides a heterogeneous dimension between artists and citizens which tends to transcend roles in favour of collective participation, an utter experience that generates “original relationships”.
It is not just about hosting a performance in one’s own home, but the daily presence of an artist contaminates the vision of those who live or cross the domestic space. The artist’s creative urgency merges with the habits of home in a constant dialogue that redefines the work, the signs that compose it, the inhabited space and the objects that define it as “familiar”.
The citizen involved in the project is not a user or recipient but a structural and founding part and an active agent of the process. The hosting citizens care for the artistic process, while the artists care for the hosts and their community.
HOW ALTOFEST WORKS
Altofest takes place in different areas of Naples and consists of a 10-day artistic residency period, followed by a 5-day programme from 11:00 to 24:00.
The spaces in which Altofest will take place are domestic and might vary according to dimension. They belong to residents and might be indoors or outdoors. In any case, and various ways, they are all inhabited spaces.
The program of Altofest is composed exclusively of a selection of original works previously designed, created and intended for a conventional space, already completed and performed in front of an audience. Any subject and content are accepted, but performances must belong to the field of live arts (theatre, dance, performances, and experimental and interdisciplinary formats).
The performances are selected through an international open call that is spread worldwide.
Each edition’s dramaturgy is composed through an emersion process, a synthesis of the gaze applied to the numerous proposals received.
The curatorial approach that outlines the “fest” originates from meticulous attention to the one-to-one relationship between artist and donor, letting the generative potential of this encounter spread out to the system of relationships within which everyone moves, infiltrating through the different layers of living.
The Artistic Direction designates the space to the artist, ensuring to match each artist’s work accurately with the hosting citizen and domestic space. But, of course, the match between the artist and the citizen is unique, so Altofest follows a specific dramaturgy that turns it into a collective live performance.
To offer a further exchange of perspectives, and to multiply the opportunities for confrontation, the Direction and the Dramaturg of Altofest provide a series of preliminary meetings, first remotely and then live, dedicated to the analysis of the work and its rewriting possibilities during the residency.
PLACES FOR THOUGHTS
Altofest is also a community space for reflection, nourished and animated by artists, citizens, scholars and cultural experts through theoretical contributions collected in different formats (visual, textual, audio, video), digital and analogue, live or remotely.
Reflections are then shared publicly during assembly moments, complementary to the scheduled performances, in which everyone’s participation is decisive and constitutive of a heterogeneous critical community.
The artists are thus invited to commit themselves to contribute in presence to the assemblies and to respond to the theoretical promptings derived from the Altofest experience in the proposed formats.
The places and practices of thought are coordinated by the Co.R – Research Community, which takes care of arranging the space and practices of questioning that emerges between the thresholds of the houses and becomes woven into the streets of the “Hovering City”.
PARTICIPATION AND PROGRAM
All performances are offered for free, although booking is mandatory.
The spaces that host the performances have different dimensions and can welcome only a small number of spectators. Therefore, artists must guarantee a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 repeats to ensure full community participation. Extra performances could be agreed upon with the citizen “space donor” and arranged by the artistic direction.
Altofest is a space for research and to share artistic processes; it works as an observatory for new relations and different ways to engage citizens in participatory art practices. Therefore, artists must see all the programmed performances, participate in activities, and work to engage the citizens. Also, they must be available to work with the Co.R and participate in discussions and debates with international cultural experts.
Artists live and work in informal spaces, mainly homes, hosted by citizens called “Space Donors”. The accommodation space is the same as the artistic residency and performance. If a space donor cannot host all the company members, then the “Accommodation Network” is activated (a network composed of citizens, friends and supporters of Altofest).
Artists are involved for two weeks, including the artist residency and public performances. Therefore, the presence of the artists is required for the entire period of Altofest. The active and immersive presence of the artist is an essential part of the structure of Altofest. Furthermore, it is necessary to fulfil the processes triggered during the event.
Artists shall question and re-write their work, considering the existing elements in the space. The artist should not simply adapt the work to space but engage in the process of translation. The translation process implies a compromise of space and its inhabitants, a total rethinking of the work from its origins to its ultimate definition. During the period of residency, day by day, the artist shall engage space donors in analysing and re-writing the performance.
TECHNICAL CONDITIONS
Due to the spaces’ domestic and private nature, Altofest does not provide additional technical support other than what already exists in the designated place.
If the artists need additional technical equipment or props, they must find and transport them themselves and at their own expense.
The artist must discuss any technical intervention with the owners and residents of the space and the artistic direction.
TeatrInGestAzione will share 9 “Partybag” (speakers, pre-amplified); a video projector; two microphones; a microphone stand; two sound mixers. Technical equipment will be shared with all the artists on rotation, exclusively during the public event (from the 19th to the 23rd of June, 2024).
DOCUMENTATION
Altofest is documented through photos, videos, interviews and audio recordings. The collected materials compose the archive of Altofest, which remains its property and might be used for research and promotional purposes. The artists will have no claim and no right to the collected materials.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
Altofest is an independent community-based project. Altofest exists and resists thanks to the members of Teatringestazione, who donate their time, skills and money (to the extent of their possibilities). Thanks to the citizens, who give spaces and accommodation. Thanks to the artists, who share the time and space of their work; thanks to volunteers; thanks to the participation of some local ethical realities; thanks to researchers; professionals; cultural experts, national and international, who offer their skills and share their visions, intertwining them with those of Altofest.
The arte°grade association is its producer and main funder, ensuring it is free for the audience.
From 2017 to 2021, the editions of Altofest were partially supported by Funder35/Fondazione con il Sud; SIAE-Sillumina; Allianz Kulturstiftung; City of Naples and Campania region in the frame of (POC) 2014-2020.
Please Note:
Altofest provides no technical or economic support other than this document’s clearly stated.
Altofest provides artists with
– A unique production fee of € 1000 gross amount + up to 100 euros presenting proofs of production expenditure. The payment will be made within the end of December 2024 via bank transfer and after the invoice is received (under no circumstances will the payment be made by cash);
– Free accommodation with the use of a kitchen in one of the private spaces belonging to a “space donor” citizen or a member of the Accommodation Network composed of citizens, friends and supporters;
– The care for the relationship between artists and space donors or accommodation donors;
– The care for all the possible connections between artists and international cultural experts and professionals;
– The promotion of the performances through the Altofest website, social network, newsletter, and press-related materials;
– The promotion of the different artists’ activities, through social media, with the #PEOPLEofALTOFEST hashtag during the whole year;
– Artists scheduled for Altofest Napoli are given preferential consideration for possible future special editions of Altofest and for other events curated by Teatringestazione;
– A bilingual translation (ITA-ENG) for promotion and communication material because Altofest cares for linguistic accessibility.
Artists commit themselves to respect the following conditions:
– The Artist undertakes to guarantee the composition of the artistic cast and technical staff as presented in the application, corresponding to the full video, or to promptly notify any substitution that may entail a substantial change to the characteristics of the proposed work.
– The Artist undertakes to leave the number of the artistic cast as presented in the application unchanged. Under no circumstances will numerical variations in the artistic cast be accepted.
– The duration of the work as presented in the video shall be considered the minimum duration;
– The Artist must guarantee their presence, and that of their artistic cast and technical staff, for the entire duration of Altofest, arrival on 10 June and departure on 24 June 2024; no exceptions will be allowed;
– Ensure a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 performances, and make themselves available for any additional performances for the Altofest community;
– The Artist releases Altofest from the payment of social security and insurance charges and assumes any copyright on the work and parts of it;
– The Artist undertakes to use original, royalty-free material. That is, they undertake to sign the SIAE (Italian Authors and Publishers’ Society) release, declaring the use of unprotected music and that the work and its author are not registered with the SIAE (Italian Authors and Publishers’ Society) or any other similar international copyright collecting agency. Otherwise, they undertake to pay all royalties in case of use of copyrighted material;
– The artist is responsible for their own artistic cast and technical staff, committing themself to make them aware and aware of the present regulations, taking charge of all social security, insurance and tax charges, any agreed upon hiring or fees, copyrights, or other charges deriving from internal agreements within the company; releasing the Arte°Grado Association from any responsibility in this regard;
– Altofest does not guarantee travel expenses but takes care to enter into agreements with numerous embassies and international cultural institutions to favour the mobility of the artists. We, therefore, invite you to contact us to be updated on the list of partner countries. In any case, all artists will receive an official letter of invitation, helpful to access possible funds for international mobility.
– The Artist agrees to respect these regulations, which will be an integral part of the contract;
– The Artist agrees to accept and sign the contract without any waiver or variation.
Please Note:
Altofest reserves the right to change each of the previous points of the regulation document in case something changes by the date of the signature of the contract.