Kahoon Projects

Call for Artists 2019

For its Spring 2019 programme, SET is partnering with Oxford Brookes University’s School of Arts in the
launch of Kahoon Projects, a series of artist collaborations and art exhibitions at SET Alscot Road. This
emerges from a collaborative research project between Oxford Brookes and LSBU, ‘The Working-Class
Avant-Garde’, which brings together international research on working-class artists and writers in
twentieth-century Britain. With this programme we will extend the project’s scope to the present day, in
order to explore the varying, and often conflicting, ways the term ‘working-class’ is understood in
contemporary society, as well as considering how the issues of class continue to affect artists working
today.

Kahoon Projects – named after the painter, Robert Colquhoun – aims to create a space for artistic
exploration of the concept of social class, and consider the ways that their background and social
experiences influenced their artwork.

The project will occupy SET’s South London project space throughout the Spring 2019. It will be based
around collaborative, interdisciplinary artistic residencies that will be offered to contemporary artists from
underprivileged backgrounds. Working alongside these residencies will be a series of public-engagement
events, including exhibitions of new bodies of work, workshops, masterclasses, and talks.

We are offering paid residencies to a number of artists to explore the issue of class in contemporary society.
The project aimsspecifically to develop the contemporary understanding of the term ‘working-class’, while
also giving a platform to emerging contemporary artists from underprivileged backgrounds. Residents will
therefore be asked to respond to the idea of a 21st century working-class.

We do not intend this to be prescriptive, or to represent any given point of view or political ideology.
Rather, the project is intended to encourage conversation between diverse voices, between artists,
academics, industry professionals, and wider community networks.

In recognising the complexity of the term ‘working-class’, which encapsulates often conflicting political,
cultural, and financial concerns, we welcome applications from artists and writers who consider themselves
‘working-class’ as judged by their own designation.

Successful applicants will develop a project collaboratively with another resident artist, culminating in a joint exhibition to be held at the SET project space. As a Kahoon Project artist-resident, you will be well-supported: you will be assigned two mentors who will assist you in your development, and a curator will help to give direction to the exhibition.

You will have one month to develop the exhibition, and will benefit from a large studio space, and SET’s
established community of artists. The exhibition will be installed for a one-month period, during which
time a series of talks and workshops will take place.

Outcomes:
– An exhibition developed collaboratively.
– A public talk about your research and the exhibition
– A public community-outreach workshop, based on your skills and ideas.

Payment & Costs: All residencies come with a £2000 stipend, and an additional £500 to cover the cost of
materials for the exhibition.

When: Residencies will take place over a two-month period between April and August, 2019.

To apply, please include:
– An up-to-date CV
– An e-portfolio/link to your website
– A brief proposal of the kind of work you would undertake for this project. (max. 250 words)
– A response to the following question (max. 250 words):
o “In what way do you consider yourself to be ‘working-class’?”
(n.b. we do not intend for you to justify this. Instead we wish for applicants to highlight
and reflect on what they consider to be essential to them in making this designation. e.g.
financial, cultural, historical, political. We invite, and anticipate, diverse understandings
of this term. We also invite applications from people from traditionally-considered
working-class communities, who reject this terminology).

Proposals should be submitted by Saturday 1st December 2018 to Roland at roland@setspace.uk and Alex
Bickley Trott at atrott@brookes.ac.uk
Please contact Alex and Roland for any further information.