Open Call – BAR TOOL #6

BAR TOOL #6. Training program for practice-based research in the arts

Dates: December 11th, 2023 through June, 2024
Deadline for application: Tuesday, 28th November 2023 by 5pm
Faculty: Clara Balaguer, Renan Laru-an
Program directors and tutors: Andrea Rodriguez Novoa and Veronica Valentini
Organised by BAR project

BAR project launches the open call to participate in the seventh edition of its practice-based training program that will take place online and in Barcelona from December 11th, 2023 through June, 2024 

BAR TOOL is a training program for practice-based research in the arts with emphasis on thought and interdisciplinary action. The program is aimed at participants from various fields of knowledge – art and non-art-related practices – who are willing to reflect and develop an outcome project related to visual arts. Over the course of 6 months, the flow of knowledge occurs through conversation and action; the program focuses on contributing context for an intensive exchange through practical debates and theory workshops with mentors and with guests, visits, and encounters that are programmed to match the participants’ interests.

Clara Balaguer and Renan Laru-an are the main tutors of the program, who, together with the program directors, will support and follow the participant’s trajectory until their public outcome which will happen early in summer at the BAR project new space in Poble Nou.

Program
In their online sessions, Laru-an will discuss his ongoing theoritisation of “exhibitionary heritage” alongside his programming of research, exhibitions, and public engagement at SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin. Balaguer’s session will deal with collectively oriented practices and their dependence on feminine labor. She will discuss the spinal function of the secretariat, recovering its agency.
Monthly online meetings will be held between January and May 2022 and will serve to continue reflection on those personal projects as well as preparation for their final public presentation.
During the months of the program other activities will be proposed in the form of ‘My studio visits’, that is, walks-visits in the city of Barcelona organized by local artists in which they take a specific place as a starting point to talk about their practice.
BAR project team (Andrea Rodriguez Novoa and Veronica Valentini) will also ensure a follow-up of the participant’s project through several offline and online meetings.
At the end of the program, a public presentation of the participant’s projects will be done.

Application
To apply please send an email to hello@barproject.net by Tuesday 28th November at 5pm attaching a single PDF (max 5MB) containing the following:

– A text about your practice including mention of a current or future project you would like to develop during the program. (max. 500 words).
– A CV (1 page) & portfolio (max. 5 projects) or link to a personal website.

Candidates will receive an answer about their participation by Thursday, 30th November.
Tuition for the whole program is 250€, to be paid prior to 10th December.

Former editions:
BAR TOOL#5 publication and public presentation at Lumbung Press/Hangar
BAR TOOL#4 –
BAR TOOL#3, publication and one night show at espai2 angels gallery
BAR TOOL#2, public program at La Virreina Centre de l’Imatge
BAR TOOL#1, exhibition at Fabra i Coats
BAR TOOL#0, exhibition at Fabra i Coats

Clara Balaguer is a cultural worker, curriculum builder, and grey literature circulator. Frequently, she operates under collective or individual aliases, the latest of which is To Be Determined: a loosely organized structure of sleeper cells that activate or deactivate in response to external factors: abundance to be distributed, urgencies to be addressed, or leisure to be. Currently, she curates the Civic Praxis program at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, and teaches Experimental Publishing at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam.

Renan Laru-an is a researcher, curator, and the artistic director of SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin. He creates exhibitionary, public, and research programs that study ‘insufficient’ and ‘subtracted’ images or subjects at the juncture of development and integration projects. Laru-an is the Public Engagement and Artistic Formation Coordinator of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network (PCAN), a recently initiated public institution for contemporary art temporarily housed at the University of the Philippines Vargas Museum.

Captions: Clara Balaguer, photo by Wawi Navarroza; Renan Laru-an, photo courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.